National Festival of Popular Arts The Festival of Popular Arts takes place in June and lasts for two weeks. It mainly takes place amid the ruins of the El Badi Palace. Traditionally, the festival is a showcase for the Moroccan arts and folk culture, with performances of Moroccan dance, Berber music and interpretations of Moroccan plays. Groups of musicians and dancers gather in the city from all regions of Morocco to show off their skills.
Tourist Fantasia A fantasia is a traditional Moroccan celebration with armed horsmen in full combat dress showing off their agility. Real fantasias are held when there is a Moulou or an occasion like the Fete du Throne. If you are not so luck as to be on the right spot at the right time, you can go and see a tourist fantasia.
From every tourist office or hotel you can arrange a complete package including the trip, a dinner, a (belly) dancing performance and a Fantasia. Prices are pretty flexible...
Fete du Throne On the 3 of march the Fete du throne is celebrated. Often big Fantasias are held just outside of the city guides -better than the tourist ones- and bands perform on the Jma-l-Fna.
Camel Festival Jul 2006/Tan Tan Road, Goulimine The people of Goulimine hold the Camel Festival once a year on top of their weekly Camel Fair that takes place every Saturday....The festival also offers the opportunity to witness the ritual dance of the Guedra music.
Date Festival Sugary dates play an important role in the 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 boasting more than 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 traditional Moroccan cuisine, including salads and tagine (a rich stew) local-style, namely with an ample scattering of fresh dates.
The Marrakech Film Festival Having just wrapped its fifth year, the festival still lacks a solid identity. For one thing, it still hasnt 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 doesnt 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 hasnt 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.
