Agadir is preparing to host the seventh edition of the International Folklore Festival, featuring international participation and a focus on heritage and cultural tourism.
The city of Ait Melloul in the Souss-Massa region is set to welcome the activities of the seventh edition of the Traditional International Folklore Festival, organized by the Flamoune Association for Art and Socio-Cultural Development, in partnership with the CIOFF Morocco Organization, the Souss-Massa Regional Council, and the Ait Melloul Municipality.
This year, the festival will feature artistic groups representing four continents, including France, Italy, Serbia, and Comoros, alongside a selection of Moroccan groups that reflect the diversity and richness of the national artistic heritage, from the Ahwash of the Rways to the Issawa and Marrakech’s Dakka.
The cultural center in Ait Melloul will host heritage evenings on June 25 and 27, 2025, while parallel artistic performances will take place at Moulay Omar Square in Ait Melloul and along the Agadir Corniche, as part of a diverse program that connects local cultural heritage with global arts.
In addition, the festival dedicates a segment to academic research, organizing an international symposium on “Folk Arts, Artistic Expression, and Integration,” in partnership with the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences at Ibn Zohr University and the LARSLAM Laboratory, with the participation of researchers and academics from within Morocco and abroad.
Alongside the artistic events, the program includes four training workshops on youth civic participation and civil advocacy, in partnership with the Ministry Delegate to the Head of Government in charge of relations with Parliament.
Through this edition, the organizers aim to strengthen Agadir’s position as a destination for cultural tourism, highlighting the role of folk arts in local development by organizing a roundtable and a masterclass on folk dance, costumes, and live creativity, led by international experts from Serbia and Italy.
Festival guests will have the opportunity to embark on an exploratory tour of Agadir’s most significant cultural and historical landmarks, continuing a tradition upheld by the festival in its previous editions.
