The small town of Aïn Leuh (Ifrane province) will host from August 12 to 14 its 16th National Ahidous Festival initiated by the Taymate Association of Atlas Arts in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture.

Several folk troupes from different mountainous regions of the Middle Atlas will present selections of their most beautiful songs and will take part in this event which aims, according to the organisers, to bring the region out of its lethargy and thus create a space for communication and links between poets, artists and researchers specialising in and interested in Amazigh culture at the level of the Middle Atlas region.

For the initiators, the National Ahidouss Festival is above all an annual meeting around an authentic Amazigh Moroccan art. It is an art where several values converge such as solidarity (collective singing and dancing), poetry as a mirror of society and its political, economic, social, cultural and environmental experience, and the beauty of the choreography.

The Festival pays particular attention to troupes and associations interested in the art of Ahidous, with the aim of preserving this Amazigh musical heritage and transmitting it to future generations.

The Festival programme includes concerts with the participation of some 38 troupes of the art of Ahidous and groups of Imediazene who will have to present poetic songs to the public.

This artistic event will be enhanced by other activities, including workshops, colloquia and tributes which will be paid to Amazigh poets.