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Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Marrakech
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|  Pilgrimages celebration and fairs
If there is something we can compare to a moussem, it is the kind of celebration which is called a « pardon » in Brittany : a celebration at first religious, to honour a saint, a « Sidi », a « Marabout », but also a simple celebration, and also a fair, as all the people are gathered together, sometimes travelled from far away, it’s an opportunity to trade and exchange.
Small and limited to a doyar, or very large, with a international reputation, like the Betrothal moussem in Imilchil, or the Moussem of the Roses, one moussem comes after another, most often in the south of Morocco, linked to this tradition of the zawyias, of which some had a huge influence through the whole Arabic world.
The Zaouïa is a spiritual Sufi centre, where spiritual practices are followed, where the holy founders of the community are buried. The Zaouïa was founded by one or several religious men, respected, a Sidi, who is celebrated during the moussem.
This Sidi can also, but does not need to be a Marabout. A Marabout is a man of faith to whom God gave powers, and who displays these powers making miracles, unearthing sources, curing illnesses. Buried in a monument that is also called, by extension, a marabout, he still protects his community after his death, doing some more miracles.
The third reason to do a moussem is simply to celebrate. These moussem are often linked to agricultural cycles, harvest celebrations, whether the Almonds Festival in Erfoud, the Roses Festival in Kelaa M’Gouna, or big fairs like the Betrothed Moussem in Imilchil that is accompanied by a huge camels market.
The moussem is the opportunity, for all these formerly nomadic people, sometimes the sole opportunity in the year, to meet again, exchange news, strengthen familial links, find a spouse, in short, to feel a part of the community. And for the sedentary ones, it is also the opportunity to meet all those who live far away and pass by seldom.
Aside these traditional festivals, some more moderns moussem flourished, either simple cultural events, like the Symphonies of the Desert in Ouarzazate, the fantasia Festival in Meknes, or the Festival of the Gnawas in Essaouira. These events are of high quality, and offer the best of the Moroccan culture.
What you can see there :
Ahaouache : it’s the traditional Berber dance, through all the South and the Middle-Atlas. Women, in their best clothes, with silks shawls and silver jewels, make a large circle and dance on the rhythm made by the men, who are grouped in the centre of the circle, with large and heavy drums. The whole group is directed by a Raïs. Other variants exist, where women and men are dancing in two facing lines, or in two circles that weaves around without mixing.
The Sabre dance, in Zagora, where two dancers supported by musicians are acting a fight.
Another war dance, the Taskiwine, or the art of vibrating the shoulders on the rhythms of the Taârijas (tambourines). Men are carrying powder horns, red slings, and evolve in time.
The Guedra, an old dance where a kneeling woman dances on the rhythm of a big drum and mimics the feelings of daily life.
Another dance where men and women meet is the dagger’s dance.
Finally, a very original group, the Gnawas, descending of the former black slaves. They put the fire on the floor, with the Hajhouj, the Tbel and the l’Graquebs. They dance the Kuyas and sing in a African-Arabic dialect, calling the saints and the spirits. Their dances and percussions reminds their suffering, when they were curved under iron links. They are given mystical powers, and their music can put you into trance
The Roses Festival - In the valley of Roses
It traditionally takes place in the second week-end of May. The streets of Kelaa T’Mgouna are filled with music groups, sabre dancers, ahaouache singers, gnawas, who all follow the floats procession, headed by Malika t’Al Ouarda, the Queen of the Roses, local equivalent of the Queen of the Carnival in Nizza.
Nowadays, it’s a very well organized and structured celebration, attended by all officials. But remain untouched the pleasure to mix within the gaudy, noisy and happy crowd, to enjoy the quality of the shows, to wander in the souk that has flooded all the streets.
It is better to arrive a few days in advance, to enjoy the gardens of roses in the valley. The very day of the moussem, all roses are cut, and the flower collars that you get proposed for a few dirhams do not replace the flourishing beauty of the blossomed rose-bushes.
The exact time of the festival depends on the harvest, and is known with certainty only two or three weeks ago. If you want to be sure to attend the moussem, plan your trip with a large security margin, and check the date at the last minute.
The Betrothal moussem, or the Wedding Festival, in Imilchil
Aït Ibrahim and Aït Yaaza were two parts of the Aït Hadiddou tribe, at war one against the other. But, once upon a time, says the legend, a young Aït Yaaza girl fall in love with a beautiful young Aït Ibrahim (or Aït Brahim) man. Romeo and Juliet in the High-Atlas, they met the same tragic destiny, to dye without being allowed to love themselves, and to get married. They cried over, they cried all the tears of their bodies, they cried a river that created the twin lakes of Isli (the Groom) and Tislit (The Bride). Their parents, repentant, decided that once a year, young girls and young men could choose freely and that those who would decide to get married during the moussem would have no obstacle to fight.
“Since”, and every year, the Betrothals Moussem happens in Imilchil, or, more precisely, in Aït Ameur, now at the end of August. It is the very big celebration of the Aït Haddidou, a tribe that still includes numerous nomads, and all events of familial life, circumcisions, betrothals, weddings, happen in these three days.
Located in an extraordinary landscape, this moussem, still a traditional one, in spite of the tourists, is a must.
Once again, check the exact dates, that are known quite late
Sidi Daoud in Ouarzazate
In the neighbourhood of Sidi Daoud, near Ouarzazate’s medina, this moussem links a pilgrimage, a craftsmen souk, and numerous songs and dances.
One of the big moussem in the South, which takes place every year during the summer, in the month of August.
Dates' Festivcal in Erfoud
Bofore 2006, iIn October, after the harvest (so once again a moussem which exact date is not known well in advance), during three days long, one celebrated the harvest and this fruit so delicious for Moroccans. Dates were the daily treat, the fruit eaten with sour milk when breaking the fast in Ramadan, and the energetic ailment taken during travels. Some sorts can be stored for years without deteriorating… but become so hard that they must be ground, or soaked very long into water to be eatable !
Under Berber tents specially brought up, you could enjoy dates and mint tea, of course, as well as the specialty of Erfoud, kahlia, a tajine made with grinded lamb, eggs, tomatoes, onions, pepperonis and no less than 44 spices !
On the third and last day, not to be missed for any reason, the camel race took its start in Merzouga dunes.
Unfortunatly, in 2006, everything changed, and not for the good. The moussem became an "international Fair", was advanced to mid-september, and, according to the authority "social aspects of the moussem were abandonned to concentrate on its commercial goals".
Boukhari Tamgeroute,near Zagora
One month after the Aïd-El-Kebir is the moussem of one of the biggests saints in Moroccan Sufism, Abu Abdallah Mohammed Abu Nasr. He founded the Zaouïa Tamegroute in the XVII° centur. He was also a traveller, making six pilgrimages to the Mekka, each of them linked to a long journey (Egypt, Irak, Persia…), and brought back from his travels an impressive manuscripts collection. When he died, in 1707, the library in the Zaouïa has more than 4000 manuscripts, some of them very rare pieces of the XIII° century, written with a nut stain ink on a gazelle’s parchment.
This is one of the most important pilgrimages in South Morocco.
Also not to be forgotten :
Classical Music festival in Fès : first week-end of May.
The Symphonies of the Desert, in Ouarzazate : June
Cherries Fair in Séfrou (Province of Fès) : June
Popular Arts Festival in Marrakech : June
Holy Music Festival in Fès : June
Gnawas Festival in Essaouira : June
Camels Fair in Guelmim : July
Cultural Festival of Asilah : August
Moussem Moulay Abdellah in El Jedida : August
Moussem Moulay Idriss Zerhoun (province of Meknès) : August
Festival in Agadir : December
Clementines’ Feast in Berkane, near Oujda : November
Raï and popular Arts Festival in Saïdia : from 1st to 15th of August
Lakes Festival in Dayet Aoua (Iffrane), beginning of July. |
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