DUBAI: Irtijal, billed as “Beirut’s oldest music festival,” starts its 2018 edition Thursday in the Lebanese capital. This year, Irtijal will take place over two weekends — March 29 and 30, and April 5 and 6 — welcoming a host of local, regional and international musicians. Irtijal focuses on experimental, alternative music, with a heavy focus on improvization. It was launched in 2001 and is organized by non-profit association MILL — founded a year earlier by musicians Mazen Kerbaj and Sharif Sehnaoui. The idea of Irtijaz, according to its website, is to encourage interaction between local and foreign artists: “The festival does not confine itself to any specific style of genre of music, but rather tries to advocate an experimental and innovative approach to each and every genre it showcases.” This year’s event certainly covers a wide range of genres. From Australian trio The Necks (March 29), whose music — the organizers say — “defies any sort of graspable categorization,” through French free-rock collective Oiseaux-Tempete (April 5) and British-Iraqi electronic musician, oudist and drummer Khyam Allami (April 6), to “a host of local favorites, both young and experienced, straddling the genres of electronica, post-rock and modern Middle Eastern forms.” Among the local acts participating are Stress/Distress (March 29) — a collaboration between one of the Beirut alternative scene’s most respected and prolific musician-producers, Fadi Tabbal, and Anthony Sahyoun (aka Mme. Chandelier), guitarist and electronic musician — and post-rock five-piece Kōzō (April 6). Beirut-based musician Jawad Nawfal is joined by his Tasjiil Moujahed bandmate C-drik, a Berlin-based musician-producer. They will perform their ambient electronica on April 5. For full details of the lineup, visit irtijal.org.