Imilchil Marriage Festival

The moussem at Imilchil is held in September at the shrine of Sidi Ahmed Oulmghani on the high plateau, and it is first of all a trade fair - livestock, wool, blankets, tools and provisions bought and sold by the Ait Haddidou and neighbouring groups before winter closes the passes - with religious observance, music and dancing alongside it. Betrothals are also agreed there, which is normal at a gathering that brings dispersed families together once a year, and this is where the outside description goes wrong: it is routinely written up as a marriage market where women choose husbands on the spot, a framing that people from the district have objected to for decades as a distortion sold to visitors. What is true is that engagements are made and that the associated legend of the Isli and Tislit lakes is told there. Attend as a guest at a working fair, not as an audience.

What you actually see

• A pre-winter trade fair - livestock, wool and provisions bought before the passes close.
• Betrothals among the business - agreed there because dispersed families meet once a year.
• Music and observance - dancing and religious ceremony around the shrine.
• A misdescribed event - the marriage-market framing objected to locally for decades.

When to go

September; the dates shift and are set locally. Two days.

Honest expectations

The marriage-market description sold to visitors is a distortion - do not go expecting it. Roads to Imilchil are long and rough and the weather can be cold. Accommodation is minimal. Photographing people, especially women, requires permission.

Nearby

Tislit and Isli lakes are close; the Todra gorge road runs south.