Erfoud Date Festival

The Tafilalt is one of the great date oases and the festival at Erfoud, held since the 1960s in October when the harvest comes in, is where the crop is shown - dozens of varieties in trays, judged and sold, from the majhoul, large and soft and the one that has been exported and planted worldwide, through boufeggous, bousthammi, jihel and the local varieties that never leave the region and are the reason to come, because a date market in the Tafilalt is a very different thing from a supermarket shelf. Around the judging are markets, camel racing, music, folk troupes and a fair. The wider background is difficult: bayoud disease has killed a very large number of Moroccan palms over the past century and drought is reducing what is left, so the festival is also an occasion for talking about replanting and about which varieties survive.

What you actually see

• Dozens of varieties - judged and sold in trays, most of them never exported.
• Majhoul among them - the variety that went worldwide, alongside the local ones.
• A harvest fair - markets, camel racing, music and folk troupes around the judging.
• A difficult background - bayoud disease and drought reducing the palm stock.

When to go

October; dates announced locally. Two days.

Honest expectations

Dates shift year to year and are published late. Erfoud has limited accommodation and it fills. Autumn in the Tafilalt is still hot. Much of the programme is in Arabic.

Nearby

Rissani and Sijilmassa are south; Merzouga is south-east.