Beirut Central District - Art and Music

Art and Music

Beirut is the center of the entertainment business and art scene in the region. A thriving artistic center, Beirut has become a new regional hub for exhibitions, art galleries, and music performances. Local, regional and international exhibitions are regularly organized around the quarters of the city center. Those exhibitions cover a varied array of topics spanning sculptures, paintings, architecture and urban planning, manuscripts and archives, photography, handicrafts, and various other technical, commercial, industrial, and scientific themes. Venues that host these exhibitions range from historic buildings, cultural centers, media headquarters, bookstores and cafes to wholly dedicated exhibition centers and specialized display galleries. Also, open spaces often host numerous temporary art galleries and public shows. Beirut Souks, specifically Ajami Square and Trablous Street, have become a favorable location for street shows, exhibitions and concerts like the 2011 Miss Lebanon Pageant. Beirut International Exhibition & Leisure Center (commonly BIEL) is a dedicated fair ground, constituting 15000 sq meters of display floor, that hosts diversely themed exhibitions. Saifi Village is Beirut's "Quartier des Arts" or "Arts Quarter", hosting year-round events in its vibrant cluster of art galleries and artisan shops. Concerts and musical performances can be attended in churches or historic buildings, in open spaces, and in private venues like the Music Hall.

Beirut Central District gradually regained, as well as evolved, its role as the cultural and literature pivot of the capital. Major bookstores and libraries in the country are located here, and constantly host book signings, book launching, seminars and conferences by world-renowned, regional and local authors. Major bookstores are Librarie Antoune, Al Bourj Bookstore, Virgin Megastores, and Sored bookstore; as well as a planned public library on Martyrs' Square. The central district is also home to the headquarters of the acclaimed Pan-Middle East newspapers An-Nahar, The Daily Star, and L'Orient-Le Jour. In 2010, Beirut was named the World Book Capital, celebrations and activities of the occasion were held in the BIEL center in the central district. The central district is home to the annual Beirut Arab & International Book Fair, that features works and authors from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iraq, Palestine and Egypt and several others, with some 180 Lebanese publishers, and dozens more from the rest of the Arab world participating. Another major Book Fair held in the central district is the Francophone Book Fair. The fair gathers together authors and personalities from Europe, North Africa and Lebanon, with a different country being chosen as the guest of honor each year. In its twienth year, the fair welcomed nearly 100,000 visitors. In 2012, The Arab and International Book Fair entered its 56th year, while the Francophone Book Fair turned twenty.

During the summer season, the new waterfront in the Beirut Central District becomes a gigantic concert arena that hosts world-class performers and shows. The list of performers at the new waterfront district includes David Guetta, Shakira, 30 Seconds to Mars, Flo Rida, James Blunt, Marcel Khalife, Kesha, Alexandra Stan, Sean Kingston, T-Pain, Warda Al-Jazairia, Akon, Lil Wayne, Sting, Mariah Carey, Phil Collins, 50 Cent, Majida El Roumi, Ricky Martin, Mika, Tiësto, The Pussycat Dolls, Snoop Dogg, Michael Bolton, Armin Van Buuren, Enrique Iglesias, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fairuz, Evanescence, Taio Cruz, Scorpions ...etc.