As usual, the Bouregreg Association is organising a new edition of the International Festival of Children's Folklore (FIFE), from 17 to 24 August.

The opening ceremony will take place next Sunday at Bab Lamrissa Square in Salé. This eighth edition will be organised under the banner: "Children of Peace" and will see the participation of twenty-two countries, namely Libya, Palestine, Turkey, Georgia, Ukraine, Slovenia, Russia, Mexico, the United States of America, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Spain, France, Serbia, Poland, Belarus, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Congo-Brazzaville, Venezuela, and Morocco.

Several folklore troupes from different prefectures and provinces of the Kingdom and in particular an important delegation from the Southern provinces will be present during this event. "This year will bring together delegations formed of 500 children from folklore troupes and chaperones, coming from countries in the Arab and Muslim world, Europe, Asia, America, and for the first time, some countries in Africa," underlines the Bouregreg Association, in a press release. This Association has been organising the International Festival of Children's Folklore for several years, to be a place for meetings and exchanges between children from all continents, of different religions and cultures, so that they can absorb the culture of peace and tolerance, and the symbiosis between peoples and in particular children.

"The children from the different countries will also have the opportunity to discover the culture, traditions, and civilisation of Morocco. This event takes on a significant dimension from one year to the next and draws a large public of young people and adults to the performance stages of Rabat, Salé, Skhirat-Témara, and for the first time Tangier, with a view to appreciating and living to the rhythms of children's folklore dances, of a high level of quality and professionalism," indicate the organisers. And to add "the programme for this year is quite rich. During the first day, the folklore troupes will parade, as a preview, from the Martyrs' Square in Salé, then to 2 March Avenue, passing through Ben Aboud Avenue, to perform on the stage at Bab Lamrissa Square in Salé. On Monday, 18 August, the children will also parade in the evening, from the Post Office Square located on Mohammed V Boulevard in Rabat, towards the Chamber of Deputies to read the Message of Peace, in four languages: Arabic, Amazigh, French, and English. The shows will take place on 19, 20, 22, and 23 August, at the Tangier corniche, at Saint-Germain beach in Témara, and at Impasse Riyad in Hay Riyad".

The delegations participating in this event will visit the Mohammed V Mausoleum in Rabat, the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, as well as numerous historical monuments.

Let us recall that the International Federation of Children's Folklore held its general assembly last May; among the items on the agenda, the members proceeded to the election of the new executive bureau of the Federation, the director of the 2014 International Festival of Children's Folklore, Abderrahman Rouijel, was elected to the post of secretary general of the said Federation.

Participation of 22 foreign countries The objective of the International Festival of Children's Folklore, in which 500 children representing several Moroccan cities and 500 others coming from 22 foreign countries take part, is to spread the culture of peace and coexistence between cultures, and to entertain the population of Salé and Rabat. During the seventh edition organised from 12 to 18 August 2013, the children participating in this festival sang in different languages (Arabic, Amazigh, and English) the Salé Call for Peace for a world without war, without blood, and without misery, where cohabitation and tolerance reign. For the opening of this festival, children performed folk dances that allowed for the discovery of the cultural specificities of other regions.