“Boujloud”, a rite that refuses to die

The city of Inezgane is preparing to host, on October 11 and 12, the 3rd edition of the Bilmawen Bodmawen carnival under the banner "Memory and identity at the service of development". It is a procession rich in colours, spectacles, symbols, sounds and smells which, refusing to die, perpetuates an ancestral rite, that of an event traditionally linked to Eid Al Adha. Bilmawen Bodmawen (literally the man with skins and multiple faces, in allusion to the masks) is the name of a carnival that has become, over its three editions, the trademark of the Inezgane Aït Melloul prefecture and the surrounding localities where this popular ceremony, made of disguises and finery, is celebrated in joy and merriment. A carnival practice par excellence, this event with well-anchored symbolic, cultural and historical evocations, presents itself, in many respects, as the mnemonic summary of beliefs, custom…