Morocco Events

Morocco is one of those religious frontiers where orthodoxy and local custom have met and compromised. The veneration of saints is frowned on by the orthodox Sunni Muslims but Islam, like Christianity, is made up of many sects and such festivals continue. It's worth asking around for details of festival dates because they follow the Islamic calendar, which is lunar and alters a little every year.

Around May there's the Mousseum of Sidi Mohammed Ma al-Ainin, an occasion to see the 'blue people' (Tuareg nomads of the Sahara) and the commercial gathering of tribes. The National Folklore Festival of Marrakesh is a 10-day tourist event attended by dancers, musicians and other entertainers from around the country. In October, the little Northern town of Erfoud hosts a festival in honour of the quintessential desert fruit, the date. Independence Day, one of five national secular holidays, is celebrated on 18 November.