Fun and festivities in Morocco - celebrations, festivals and cultural events

Moroccans are extremely sensitive to their own holidays. Religious celebrations are especially revered. Many of them are accompanied by a special ceremony – “mousse”. Secular holidays are timed to important events or associated with folk traditions. On the first day of January, Moroccans celebrate the New Year and immediately after, the Country’s Independence Day. Annually in March, the day of the beginning of the reign of the Moroccan King Hassan II is marked. Among the holidays celebrated in summer are the Youth Day (August 21st) and the Throne Day (July 30th). In early November, the Day of Memory of the Green March is held. This tradition has a historical basis: it marks the restoration of the territorial integrity of the country. Another historic day falls on the second half of the month of November. It is associated with the return from exile of the beloved Moroccan ruler, King Mohammed V.

Festivities associated with religion are of major importance for the inhabitants of Morocco. These include the Islamic New Year, the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed, the end of Ramadan, a ritual sacrifice. The largest religious event in Morocco is Uraza Bayram, which is arranged to mark the end of the month of Ramadan. The celebration lasts for three days and usually falls in the middle of summer. Kurban-Bayrami is the feast of sacrifice, which occurs seventy days after the end of Uraza-Bayram. The main custom of this holiday is the ritual slaughter of the ram intended for this purpose. At this time in Morocco, solemn dinners are held, and relatives present gifts to one another.

Of particular interest to tourists are national holidays, especially those of a secular nature. Most of them fall in June. In the beginning of summer, there is a holiday desert symphony, a music festival Gnaoua, a festival of cherries, honey, dates and many others. One of the most colorful Moroccan customs is the festival of flowering almonds. . It regularly takes place in the Tafraout town – “almond” center of the country. In February, the almond bloom begins, thus indicating the imminent arrival of spring. According to the Moroccan belief, the fruits of the almond tree promise good luck. Their flowering coincides with the New Year of trees, and is therefore considered sacral. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

It is considered a great blessing to attend the feast of wax candles in Sale, paying homage to the city patron – Ben Hassoun. The main attraction is a fascinating festive procession to music. The people participating in the procession hold large colorful candles adorned with openwork patterns. From the house where the lamps are made, they carry them to the tomb of Ben Hassoun. All those who observe this magnificent spectacle have been recorded to experience an overwhelming feeling. In El-Kelaa-Mgouna, an aromatic festival of roses is held annually. This City, nicknamed “the capital of Moroccan roses” is the place of production of rose oil and rose water. The beginning of the celebrations signifies the completion of the collection of flower petals, which falls in May. You will find for sale at each corner, wreaths of roses which along with the scattered petals on the streets is known to fill the city with a dizzying fragrance.

Sweet lovers will definitely want to visit the October Gingerbread Festival in Erfoud. It gives guests the opportunity to penetrate into the culture of Morocco and spend a few days enjoying Moroccan songs and dances. At the festival there is a fair with the possibility of tasting. In Tissa, there is an unusual horse festival, which immerses one in the atmosphere of the eastern fairy tale. Crowds of boys in colorful traditional clothes, warlike horsemen seem to carry guests of the holiday back into ancient times. Another famous tradition of Morocco is the Festival of Sacred Music in Fez. It brings together musicians and dancers from all parts of the world. During the festival, you can hear sermons of dervishes, Berber singing, authentic tunes of the Andalusian Arabic musical tradition, psalms and hymns of flamenco. In Marrakech, the festival of folk arts is held, in Essaouira – the festival of ethnic music “Gnaoua”, in Agadir – a large-scale festival of the city.