This region is renowned for its popular songs, music and dances: Ahidous, Laâlaoui and its variants Mengouchi, Nhari and Sghairi, rhythmic forms of expression rich in percussion. These age-old dances, performed by several dancers holding elbows and moving as a single body, exalt the courage and strength of warriors in the face of the enemy. The province also boasts groups of Bardias, the only ones of their kind in Morocco. These are warriors on foot executing expressive figures; rifles in hand, they end their performance in a cloud of gunpowder.
The Saidia Festival: An intarcultural meeting place combining modernity and authenticity
Since its creation in 1980, the Saidia Festival has been dedicated to promoting the rich and varied cultural and artistic heritage of the Oriental region. The first editions focused on Gharnati art. Over the years, the festival palace has become home to a multitude of Moroccan, North African and Mediterranean melodies and songs (local folklore, raï, flamenco, etc). This formula has proved increasingly popular with an increasingly discerning public, with summer visitors to the blue pearl of the Oriental region turning out every year for this event, which is seen as a meeting place for intercultural convergences.
On the sidelines of the festival, a comprehensive entertainment program including various sports and cultural activities is offered to holidaymakers (various individual and team sports disciplines, educational games, exhibitions of plastic arts and handicraft products, …) is planned.
The organizers aim to make the festival a Mediterranean space for convergence and intercultural encounters through art and its various forms of expression, and its universality that transcends borders and contributes to invigorating exchanges between peoples.