A. Muhyawi – Heba Press
During the period from August 20 to 24, 2024, the city of Ifrane will host the activities of the sixth session of the International Festival of Ifrane, organized by the Ifrane Forum Association for Culture and Development (AFICED), since 2016, in partnership with the workers of the province of Ifrane and the Regional Council. For Ifrane, the Community of Ifrane and the Regional Council of Fez-Meknes, where the organizers chose as the slogan for the aforementioned session “The forest is a national heritage”. This festival also organizes various security agencies to secure this session.
The opening ceremony of the Ifrane International Festival will feature an exhibition of paintings of the local Ahidous art, considered an intangible heritage. This distinguished art is known for its distinct musical expression, in the form of traditional dances and chants of Amazigh zajal poems accompanied by the beating of tambourines, which are considered the preferred means of entertainment for the Berbers of the Middle Atlas and throughout the country.
The program of the opening night of the festival itself will also include the presentation of an Ahidous symphony, composed in 2017 at the initiative of the Ifrane Forum for Culture and Development association, in which 260 artists representing 22 Ahidous groups, spread across different regions, will participate, through which the organizers seek to be a symbol of respect for cultural diversity in our societies, to ensure harmonious interaction and the desire to live together between people and groups with multiple, diverse and dynamic identities.
The festival, whose sixth edition will see the participation of big names in Moroccan and international music, including artists Hatem Ammor, Najat Atabou, Zakaria Ghafouli, artists Gamez, Lahour, Ahouzar and many other artists, (aims) to promote the economic, natural and tourist potential of the province of Ifrane and highlight the richness and diversity of Moroccan intangible heritage and its openness to various other cultures of the world, the aforementioned festival having become a flagship event, attracting thousands of tourists. at the national and international levels.
The program of the aforementioned festival in its sixth session also includes the organization of parallel activities at the cultural and sports levels, including the organization of seminars, cultural competitions and awareness-raising and sensitization activities relating to the environmental aspect, particularly in terms of rationalizing the use of water and preserving forest resources, which constitute a lung and an outlet, in the Middle Atlas and in Morocco as a whole, in addition to organizing various sports activities, such as petanque, basketball, cross-country running and archery.
The festival activities are spread across the Al Taj platform
