Cold country that lives under the blistering sun, Maghreb jewel – there are many names Morocco known for. Nevertheless, tourist’s opinions on the Kingdom of Roses are the same: they consider it as a place that everyone should visit at least once in their lives. The best time to travel is a rose festival.
Cold country that lives under the blistering sun, Maghreb jewel – there are many names Morocco known for. Nevertheless, tourist’s opinions on the Kingdom of Roses are the same: they consider it as a place that everyone should visit at least once in their lives. The best time to travel is a rose festival.
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The history of the event
Rosa damascena – a flower that has given the festival its name – has not always been growing in this warm and sunny area. People have many theories and legends about the way roses have appeared in Morocco. One famous tale narrates a story about a merchant that has bought roses here on his way back from Damascus. He has plented them, and a little garden has slowly become a large rose seedling.
The initial purpose of this festival was a way to promote and recoup the business of rose oil production, Morocco’s business card. Being in great demand, the product started appearing in almost every store, leading to the massive competiveness between the merchants. It was essential to figure out the way to stand out and attract the large flow of customers. Thinking of a way to sort this issue out, merchants of M’Gouna, the capital of the feast, have organized the Rose festival. Thus, coming for a celebration, tourists are not coming back with an empty hands: they are purchasing oil and other souvenirs and supporting Moroccan economy.
Now the main accent is made on another purpose of the festival: celebrating the crops gathered earlier in the year and the wonders of the nature. Moroccan people see roses as a symbol of natural beauty and renewal.
Preparation for the festival
The festival in Kalaat M’Gouna attracts thousands of tourists and habitants of the neighbouring settlements: needless to say, this is the most awaited event of the year! However, before the celebration begins, the organizers have to do a massive amount of work.
One of the essential stages of the preparation for the rose festival is flower gathering. Moroccans take care of roses, choosing from the best ones, and gather up to five hundred petals in order to strew them upon the streets and heads of passers-by. This is not the only way to use roses: perfumers make rose water. Later it will be given to restaurant visitors before their meal, to rinse hands; also the eau de toilette with the scent of roses is a very popular purchase among the women. Perfumers themselves – the local professionals and the huge French perfume houses – are the most loyal customers that buy M’Gouna roses on a yearly basis. They come for damask roses: a sort that is growing in these lands.
Festival is also known for the large choice of food. Upon entering the square, tourists initially are noticing market places with shelves, crammed with dishes, and show cases presenting local delicacies. People have a unique opportunity to taste some pink tea, having a blissful impact on blood circulation and metabolism. Some salesmen lure audience with cinnamon and saffron – condiments for a large number of dishes. Another traders invite them for a degustation of nuts, dates and apples – all natural. It is almost impossible to leave the market with an empty hands after facing such a choice and tasting wondrous delicacies.
Dried fruits and nuts are traditionally harvested one day prior to the festival, and the special tea is made in the early morning. Food which is sold and served in Morocco at this day is the most fresh in the country.
Color in costumes and decorations
There is no dresscode, but there is a style for the festival visitors. People wear bright, colorful clothes to become alike to flowers. Moroccan women choose to wear bright scarves and pink dresses, sewed from organza or tulle, and decorated with embroidered roses; children, both boys and girls are carrying garlands created from rose petals and flowers. Men are wearing traditional white turbaned robes.
Entertainments to see with your own eyes
Young women feel the most excited at the festival at roses: today one of them is going to become a new Queen of Roses. The winner is being chosen among twenty contestants through the universal suffrage. After the Queen is proclaimed publically, she is greeted with honor. For the rest of the day she is not going to make a single step: the Queen is carried in the arms of citizens like a main symbol of the festival – fragile rose. Afterwards, all those who wish to make a photo with her get this opportunity.
Guests are also eagerly greeting the helicopter: it carries tanks with pink water, generously pouring it upon the people’s heads. The pink rain has become a tradition ages ago.
Organizers have also remembered about the little guests. The local artists have prepared the entertaining program for children with spirit. Kids can enjoy the show-program, including theatre plays, and the rest of the activities while their parents are on their own. Children are invited to try their hands at drawing or papier-mache. Predominantly roses become the objects of their art. These and handicrafts, made in advance, become souvenirs from the festival and kept home afterwards as memories – though, there is another way of using them. Little artificiers enjoy sharing their unique masterpieces with the festival visitors, selling it for a nominal cost.
