The Tan-Tan Moussem is an annual gathering held since 1963 by more than thirty tribes from southern
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
and other parts of
Northwest Africa
The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
in
Tan-Tan
Tan-Tan ( ar, طانطان, ber, ⵟⴰⵏⵟⴰⵏ) is a city in Tan-Tan Province in the region of Guelmim-Oued Noun in southwestern Morocco. It is a desert town with a population (2014 census) of 73,209. It is the largest city in the provinc ...
, a town in south-western Morocco.
In traditional
Berber culture,
a ''moussem'' is "a type of annual fair with economic, cultural and social functions."
[
This particular gathering was first held in 1963 to "promote local traditions and provide a place for exchange, meeting and celebration".][ It is said to have been associated with Mohamed Laghdaf, a Saharan leader who fought the French and Spanish colonizers for decades, died in 1960, and was buried near Tan-Tan.][ The gathering was banned by the authorities in 1979 due to security concerns, but was revived again in 2004 with the help of UNESCO and the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism.][ Originally it was held in May, but is currently held every December.][
Nomadic tribes travel to the ''moussem'' from all over the Sahara, making it the largest gathering of nomadic tribes in northern Africa.][
A wide variety of activities happen at the gathering. It is "an opportunity for tribes to socialize with song and dance, swap stories, share herbal remedy knowledge, compete in horse races and engage in some serious camel trading"][ and "buy, sell and exchange foodstuffs and other products, organize camel and horse-breeding competitions, celebrate weddings."][ Further, the festival includes "a range of cultural expressions such as musical performances, popular chanting, games, poetry contests and other Hassanie oral traditions."][ This ''moussem'' also includes the fantasia, a choreographed reenactment of a cavalry charge by Berber tribesmen who raise their rifles to the air and issue a warcry.][
]
External links
A UNESCO video on the Tan-Tan Moussem
A series of clips from the 2015 gathering by the Morocco tourism office and UNESCO
Another series of clips from the 2015 gathering by a Moroccan media outlet
References
{{UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity , state=collapsed
Moroccan culture
Berber culture