Fatima Hamdi - Algeria

"Whoever has not played zerna under her balcony as she leaves a bride from her parents' house is still virgin," said 76-year-old Mina, a case of abandoning the habit of accompanying traditional bands known in Algeria as "Zarnah" to the bride as she groomed from a house. her dad.

Algerian "Zarna" bands are one of the basics of weddings and concerts. The name "Zarnah" is inspired by the musical instrument "Sarnaya" of Persian origin. The band consists of the instrumentists and the three percussion instruments.

The music of kings edited by the people
Algerian musician Abdel Razzaq Belfleti says in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net that the Ottomans in the Ottoman era singled out the music from the "Zarnajiyya", the instrumentalists of the band. "It appeared in the time of the Ottoman presence in Algeria to be liberated later by the people who became the most important tools of joy in Different social occasions. "

The late artist known as "Boualem Titich" broke the rule that "Zarnah" is a music for the births, kings and bourgeois class, to take it to the street to accompany various occasions, became tens of years ago accompanying the bride in her exit from her family home, and the return of the boy from the doctor in the circumcision ceremony .. And others Of occasions.

In "Zarnah" several prints (rhythms) according to the artist Belfletti such as Nubia, Zindani, Hadra, light and others. Each region in Algeria has its own character and varies according to the instruments, while all share the joy it broadcasts in its souls and in the places where it plays.

People 's Music
In the popular neighborhood of Bab El Oued in the heart of Algiers, amid the chaos, the voice of "Zarnah" is heard as she progresses. Everyone knows that a bride from the neighborhood will leave her family's house, or a groom preparing to marry his bride, and make way for him to dance. Joy.

It is not required that the participant in the ceremony be from the people of the "feast" in order to share the joy of the "folk festival of Zarnaji" spontaneous .. No one asks you: Are you the people of the groom or bride? It is enough for the dancer to be a lover of the "Zarnah" in order to obtain a visa to practice dancing with the groom in the middle of his family.

The wedding for the parents and zerna for all
"The wedding for the family and for Zarna for all," says the custom in Algeria. As soon as the "Zarna" band arrives in the neighborhood until the big and small are wrapped around, they are followed by dancing applauded in the midst of the shots fired by women from their balconies.

It does not matter whether you are interested in the wedding and its people or not, because "Zarna and joy of the right of everyone". "Zerna is the gift of feast owners to neighbors and people, as if the concert owners want to spread the happiness that they feel in everyone's mind," says Belfleti.

For her part, Malak concludes that "Zarna represents the Algerians' declaration of marriage to the neighbors, and is a gift for the people of the concert, where everyone finds themselves interested in dancing and joy just because Zernaji blow the first puff in the musical section inspired by the Algerian heritage."

"This art has survived for decades because the Algerian families have been keen to pass it on generation after generation," said Abderrahmane Zarnaji, the captain of Abdel Rahman Zernazji, who has been practicing this art for more than 20 years.

Flag not playing arbitrary
The artist Belfleti says he chose to play in the bands of Zarna and led them as young as he graduated from an Andalusian music institute. "The immaterial heritage of Algeria must have ambassadors and guards so that it does not disappear," said the young man, who is keen to wear traditional costumes.

"All of them are full of joy, but the moment we accompany the girl as she comes out of her father's wing and hands her over to her groom, is often painful despite the happiness that the situation holds," he says. .

Ms. Fatiha, 65, believes that Zarna "invalidates the eye and envy of the grooms because it distracts everyone from focusing with them towards focusing with Zarna" which draws attention and grabs hearts and gives joy and removes hatred and grudge and make everyone feel joy.