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Music Festivals
Morocco
Events Planning |
Morocco World Sacred Music Festival. Marrakech music festival.
Essaouira Festival. Kalat Megoua rose festival. Morocco film festival.
Camel festival. Morocco tours and much more.
Events &
Festivals in Morocco
We can
customize your trip by spending only the number of days at the Festival
that you prefer in addition to exploring the rest of Morocco according
to your interest.........please click
Morocco
Customized Tour
For five days now, the bustling city
of Marrakech manages to cram in even more popular sights and
sounds than it boasts already during the Marrakech Popular Arts
Festival.
The El- Badi Palace in particular acts as the centre of events
over the course of the festival. Built in the 16th century by El
Mansour to house his court, the legendarily grand structure was
entirely stripped by Moulay Ismaiel a century later. Although the
only remains today are the red walls and the ruined foundations of
a few internal structures, there is no denying the imposing scale
of the place.
During the rest of the year, when it plays home mainly to a colony
of nesting storks, El Badi is a peaceful respite from the bustle
of Marrakech Medina. For the duration of the festival, however,
its courtyards are packed with enthusiastic performers and
spectators. From the Berber musicians and dancers of the High
Atlas to the Andalous-inspired musicians of the North, from the
trance-inducing music of the Southern Gnawas to the art of the
belly dancer, every element of Moroccan culture combines to create
a vibrant impression for visitors and locals alike.
If a simple visit to the Place Djemaa El-Fnaa has inspired you on
a previous trip, imagine the impact this hospitable town can have
during its own music festival.
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Artists from around the world flock to
Morocco's spiritual capital during the annual Fez Sacred Music
Festival. The event features performances in a variety of styles,
ranging from local Sufi chants to haunting gypsy songs from Spain -
a romantic setting for a fine selection of devotional music.
The spread of the gypsy-inspired style
is such that musicians from France to Rajasthan can find common
ground - and they certainly do over the course of this event, with
double bills and collaborative performances forming the majority of
the program.
To satisfy even the most demanding customer, organizers add annual
spectaculars to each year's program. This has included Whirling
Dervishes from Iran. There are also concerts on the Bab Boujloud
Square, children's educational activities and the famous Sufi nights
at Dar Tazi......and much more.
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Essaouira Gnaoua and World Music Festival June / Essaouira
Essaouira Gnawa and World Music
Festival is a celebration of the mysterious music of the
Gnawas, the product of a mystic tradition with branches as
widespread as Haitian voodoo and Brazilian Candomblé. A
picturesque port painted in blue and white, Essaouira is the
ideal resort that most travelers dream of when they think of
North Africa: laid-back and yet vibrant, atmospheric and
relaxing.
The town's status as an
independent travelers' favorite makes it the perfect venue for
a festival devoted to the feats of the Gnawas, best known for
their tasseled hats, which spin wildly as the musicians rock,
entranced by their own music. Artists appearing include the
best musicians of the genre as well as performers from around
the world.
Originating through a cross-pollination of African magic and
Islamic rituals, the Gnawa brotherhoods form a structured unit
around a Master, who leads music and dancing until the
participants are in a state of trance. The
mesmerizing
rhythms of the drums, the
guenbri (a form of lute) and the hand-held garagab
(metal castanets) lead performers into a trance-like state -
during religious ceremonies, Gnawas have even been known to
impale themselves on swords or beat their heads with iron
balls without sustaining any visible external injuries.
Faint-hearted visitors will be pleased to know that the
Essaouira Festival does not feature such extreme performances:
the program focuses on the purely musical elements of Gnawa
tradition and their influence on African-inspired music.
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The Marathon des
Sables
April / Ouarzazate
www.saharamarathon.co.uk
The Sand Marathon, which takes place close
to Ouarzazate, caters for the truly dedicated sportsmen and women who
take on the
grueling 150 miles (240km) of the
course over seven long days. Certainly not for the faint-hearted, this
is a race for those with a will of iron and an even stronger
constitution.
Around 600 competitors from 30 countries
take part every year. The race includes a full marathon on one day,
and a 50-mile stage, as well as others of differing length and
terrain. Competitors must carry all their equipment on their backs.
Only a carefully rationed 2 gallons of water and open-sided local
tents are provided daily by the organizers.
Based in the scenic, craggy desert outside Ouarzazate, marathon life
centers around the camp in which competitors rest after a day's
running. The Sand Marathon is without a doubt one of the most
rewarding and intense races in the world.
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Rose
feast
May 14-27 2008/El
Kelaa des M'Gouna
The Valley of the Roses,. El Kelaa des
M'Gouna - the only town of any note in the area - acts as Morocco's
rose capital, a vast distilling plant there producing the gallons of
scented rose-water so popular in the nation's cooking and perfumery.
Although El Kelaa smells divine all year round, the best time to
visit is in late May when the rose farmers from the surrounding
hills gather to celebrate the year's harvest. With ten tons of
petals required to produce a few litres of precious oil, the harvest
is understandably a labor of love, and the culminating festivities
are all the livelier for it.
A souk (market) springs up along El Kelaa's main street, with plenty
of music and dancing to brighten up the proceedings. A Rose Queen is
also elected to reign over the year's scented crop.
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Cherry Feast
June (annual)-Sefrou, Fez
Sefrou's Cherry Festival is, in
fact, a celebration of the cherry harvest as opposed to a
cherry feast, though you can be sure there will be no
shortage of the delicious little fruits to sample. It takes
place in an ancient walled town, one of the oldest in the
area, pre-dating even Fez's 8th-century structures. Sefrou
lies on the rising slopes of the Middle Atlas, the ideal
ground for the thousands of cherry trees which lend the town
its fruity renown.
The harvest is celebrated over three days in June with
music, dance and the mandatory colorful souk (market). There
are numerous sporting competitions, a torch-light
procession, a fairground, and finally the election of Miss
Cherry with a parade by her admiring followers.
Camel Festival
 Jul
/ Tan Tan Road, Goulimine
The people of Goulimine hold an annual
Camel Festival on top of their weekly Camel Fair (every Saturday).
Once known as the "gateway to the Sahara",
Goulimine is now less of a border town - due mainly to the decline of
the camel as a mode of transport.
The festival also offers the opportunity to witness the ancient dance
ritual known as the Guedra, which is associated with Goulimine. The
dance is performed by a woman to the beat of a drum made of a kitchen
pot (guedra) and the chanting and clapping of onlookers. The dance
often induces a hypnotic state and is carried out to serve as a
blessing or to submit oneself to God.
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Imilchil
Marriage Feast
August / Imilchil
Morocco's very own Romeo and Juliet
story is the inspiration for this tribal marriage festival in
which up to 40 couples tie the knot on one day in Imilchil in the
Middle-High Atlas Mountains. The festival is also an excuse for
the surrounding Berber tribes to get together and dance, give
impromptu musical performances and enjoy a jolly good shop, as a
massive market springs up in the town, selling everything from
Gillette razors and batteries to exquisite tribal kilims
(carpets).
The legend goes that a man and a woman
from two local tribes fell in love but were forbidden to marry by
their families. They cried themselves to death, creating the two
neighboring lakes of Issly
(his) and Tisslit (hers) near Imilchil, which are just a 20-minute
walk apart. So stricken were their families, they established a
day - on the anniversary of the lovers' death - on which members
of the two tribes could marry each other. The Imilchil Marriage
Festival was born.
More prosaically, the event serves a purpose by enabling otherwise
desperate tribes to meet and find partners - nature's way of
widening the gene pool and avoiding the threat of inbreeding.
Berber women are entitled to divorce and remarry and the market is
now essentially made up of widows and divorcees seeking a new
husband.
The dates of this festival depend on the harvest making it
impossible to predict exactly when it occurs each year. Ask
tourist offices locally when you travel - even we can't predict
the vagaries of the weather system!
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Date Festival
October / Erfoud
Sugary dates play an important role in
the highly superstitious Moroccan culture and the annual Date Feast
in Erfoud demonstrates exactly how highly they are regarded. Their
sweetness makes them an ideal token of good luck, which is why they
are a traditional gift at important ceremonies and an offering to
friends or strangers.
Erfoud is the centre of the
date-producing area with its one million date palms and is therefore
the centre of festivities after the October harvest. Traditional
processions, music and folk dance form the bulk of the events, with
plenty of opportunity to sample the traditional Moroccan salad and
Tagine (a rich stew) local-style, namely with an ample scattering of
fresh dates. A fashion parade leads through the streets to the place
Erfoud - where the winner is honored with the title of "Miss Date".
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The Marrakech Film Festival
By James Ferrera
www.festival-marrakech.com
 Having
just wrapped its fifth year, the festival still lacks a solid
identity. For one thing, it still hasn't settled on a date. It began
in September 2001, each year it has hopscotched across the fall
calendar, settling this year in November, just after Ramadan. But more
importantly, it still doesn't know what it wants to be when it grows
up. And yet it seems to want to be all things at once. Marrakech longs
to generate the hype and glamour of Cannes, to support emerging talent
like Sundance, to be taken as seriously by Hollywood as Toronto and to
provide as unique and intriguing a setting as Venice.
But like any five-year-old, it is still
learning and stumbling toward its goal. This is not to say it hasn't
met with some success. The involvement of the Tribeca Institute
provides a stamp of legitimacy through its Directors Table workshops,
bringing young filmmakers together with venerable directors like
Martin Scorsese and Abbas Kiarostami for a once in a lifetime
opportunity to exchange ideas in this intimate setting
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The Paris-Dakar rally (since 1977)
pits over 400 drivers against each other in a grueling 16-day
race over 6500 miles between France and Senegal on the west
coast of Africa.
Competitors from 24 countries
drive a mixture of buggies, 4x4 vehicles, motorbikes and
quad-bikes, but only a quarter of participants can expect to
finish and reach the Lac du Rose near Dakar in Senegal. The
lucky few will cover five countries, two continents and
contrasting extremes of heat and cold, with landscapes ranging
from mountains to seaside, desert and farmland.
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Marrakech
Marathon
 January
/ Marrakech
www.marathon-marrakech.com/acca.html
The ancient Menara is a
landmark on the Marathon route..... More than 5000 runners
from all over the world take part in the annual Marrakech
International Marathon and Half-Marathon. The magical city
offers an exceptional setting for this grueling athletic
event, with a very mild daytime temperature (20 to 25°C)
and a beautiful circuit...............Considered one of
the fastest in the world, the marathon route follows the
palm-lined boulevards of Marrakech, taking in the orange
and olive trees of the Menara Gardens and continuing past
the ramparts of the old and legendary Medina.
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Almond
Tree Blossom Festival
February / Tafraoute
Officially the almond capital of
Morocco, the area is as famous for its produce as for the
spectacle provided by the almond trees in full blossom amid the
ochre red walls of the village.............This ephemeral sight of
natural beauty gives otherwise peaceful Tafraoute a party
atmosphere, as a colorful Souk (market) springs up, complete with
dancers, musicians and storytellers.
Outside of blossom time, Tafraoute is a sight in its own right -
the red walls of the village radiating from the heat between the
pink cliffs of the Anti-Atlas. The brilliant blossoms add another
color to the vibrant spectrum. A brief drive away from the popular
destination of Agadir, this event is ideal if you want to escape
that beach holiday atmosphere.
We
will be more than happy to customize your trip or event according to
your taste
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July
/ Marrakech
June / Fez
