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Rabat – The organizing committee of Morocco’s Moussem Moulay Abdellah Amghar has called for UNESCO to inscribe the Moussem into its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
UNESCO’s Intangible Culture Heritage refers to practices, beliefs, customs, and other nonphysical cultural attributes.
Moulay El Mahdi El Fatimi, a member of the committee, said this step would ensure preserving this heritage.
The committee’s request comes after UNESCO inscribed Morocco’s “Tbourida” into its heritage list in December 2021.
The North African country had officially submitted its “Tbourida” application in 2019.
Tbourida performance is deeply rooted in Moroccan culture and is often associated with traditional and regional festivities.
Read Also: UNESCO Includes ‘Tbourida’ as Intangible Moroccan Cultural Heritage
A Moussam is an annual regional festival, often accompanied by equestrian games named Tbourida, or fantasias.
Celebrated for more than hundreds of years, Moulay Abdellah Amghar’s Moussem is now perceived as one of the most important traditional and religious festivals of its kind in Morocco.
Celebrated in August by the Doukkala tribes, the annual festival attracts over two million Moroccan and foreign visitors annually, El Fatmi noted, emphasizing that nearly 2,000 horse riders take part in the Moroccan equestrian art.
The ritual is celebrated in memory of Saint Moulay Abdellah Amghar in the rural commune of Moulay Abdellah, 15 kilometers from the coastal city of El Jadida.
The festival features several religious and folkloric activities in different spaces, and promotes the art of the “Halqa,” a cultural heritage that is slowly disappearing due to globalization.
The “Halqa” is a performance that takes place in open spaces such as Jamaa El Fna in Marrakech, weekly souks, popular markets (Souika), and crowded streets.
Usually led by one main performer named “Lhlaiqi” surrounded by dancers, musical instruments, and sometimes tamed snakes or well-trained monkeys, the ancient Moroccan art form is an entertaining show for a large crowd.
