Sarab at Mixtape 5 in Sofia on October 13 - the French-Syrian group that fuses Arabic poetry and post-punk

The French-Syrian group Sarab performs on October 13, 2026 at the Mixtape 5 club in Sofia, as part of the A to JazZ Concerts programme. Doors open at 19:00, local support Eterea plays at 20:00, and Sarab takes the stage at 21:00.

Sarab means „mirage” in Arabic and was born out of the meeting between French-Syrian singer Climène Zarkan and guitarist Baptiste Ferrandis. The group came out of the Paris jazz circle and grew into a six-piece collective combining rock, contemporary jazz and Arabic traditional music. The sound moves between post-punk and Arabic poetry, with elements of metal and krautrock.

After two albums - „Sarāb” from 2019 and „Arwāh Hurra” from 2022 - and one EP, „Qawalebese Tape” from 2023, the group returned in early 2026 with the new record „Mīt Warde”, meaning „A Hundred Roses”. Behind them are more than 100 concerts across Europe, Canada and Morocco.

Local support Eterea is a young Bulgarian band formed in 2025 that plays psychedelic folk with elements of rock, jazz and electronica, with lesser-known Bulgarian folk songs at the base of the repertoire. Both groups are working on the same idea from different sides - a traditional song run through a contemporary band. The event is supported by the Liveurope network, and tickets are around 20 euros via bilet.bg, roughly 1,232 denars.