Learn about a mountainous village in Morocco, where young men and women meet once a year during the Festival of Brides to tie the knot
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Munia: Hello, Munia here. |
| Yasin: And Yasin here. Welcome to a new episode of this Culture series fully dedicated to Moroccan culture. |
| Munia: Each lesson is recorded in the amazing city of Casablanca, and each time we’ll introduce a new topic on the customs, traditions and the rich culture of Morocco. |
| Yasin: Thank you for joining us. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Munia: Today we’re going to talk about an interesting festival specific to a [بربر] tribal village in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. |
| Yasin: It’s called The Festival of [ إملشيل], [ إملشيل] being the name of the village where it takes place every year. |
| Munia: The festival is also known as Festival of Brides and it’s more popular under this name. |
| Yasin: It has gained national and international popularity and every year it attracts masses of tourists coming from all over the world to attend days of tribal wedding ceremonies. |
| Munia: At the end of each summer, in its valet at 200 meters of altitude, the Festival of Brides has been the opportunity for women living in this tribal area to choose a husband for the rest of their lives before the heavy winter snow isolates the tribes from the rest of the country. |
| Yasin: This festival is a huge cultural celebration and [ إملشيل] is a cultural symbol of the region. |
| Munia: Do you know the origin of this festival, Yasin? |
| Yasin: I know it’s a legend that glorifies love… |
| Munia: Well, the legend of the festival is inspired from real historical fights between the [بربر] tribes of the region that led to many inter-tribal wars. |
| Yasin: Right, and there were two clans of a tribes called [آيت يازا ] and [آيت إبراهيم] engaged in a constant war. |
| Munia: Now, a woman from one clan fell in love with a man from the other. And because of constant wars, their parents refused to let them marry. |
| Yasin: And their broken hearts led to many tears that form two famous lakes that exist today. |
| Munia: One is called [تيسليت], referring to the woman. |
| Yasin: And the other is called [إيسليت], referring to the young man. |
| Munia: It’s like a Moroccan version of Romeo and Juliet, with the same tragic destiny. |
| Yasin: Yes, and this act of desperation led parents to grant all your generations to come, men and women, the freedom to choose their partner. |
| Munia: And since then the Festival of Brides has been not only an occasion for men and women to tie the knot, but also an important business event. |
| Yasin: When is it celebrated? |
| Munia: At the end of the harvest season, in the beginning of September. |
| Yasin: Oh, so that’s coming up soon. |
| Munia: Yes, Yasin. But I think the brides have a preference for tribal men of the region. |
| Yasin: I was thinking it would be interesting go and see. |
| Munia: I agree. For travelers who are willing to make the trip to this gorgeous area in the mountain, but also hard to access, it’s really worth it. |
| Yasin: Where is it exactly? |
| Munia: It’s about 110 miles south-east of Casablanca, in the Atlas Mountains. No trains go there and it’s best to join a tour bus or hire your own car. |
| Yasin: And what can one expect? |
| Munia: A big gathering of tribes of the region, a lot of dance performances, marriage rituals, there’s also a [سوق] or a marketplace as we call it here, in Morocco, where traditional [بربر] items are sold. |
| Yasin: The marriage ceremonies can last up to five days, right? |
| Munia: There’re many rituals like sheep offering… |
| Yasin: And the big [حنّة] night when the bride and her female guests get henna tattoos. |
| Munia: And you can also try different foods as a guest. |
| Yasin: But don’t you think it’s becoming a little bit commercial? |
| Munia: Unfortunately, yes, but it’s still worth the visit. |
| Yasin1: One last thing - what is the festival called in Arabic? |
| Munia: Good question, Yasin. It’s called [موسم] . [موسم إملشيل] is Arabic for “festival”, although in Standard Arabic we pronounce it [مَوْسِمْ]. |
| Yasin: [موسم إملشيل] I can’t wait to go. |
Outro |
| Munia: All right, that’s it for today. We hope you enjoyed today’s lesson. |
| Yasin: As always, let us know what you think. [إلى اللّقاء] |
| Munia: [مع السّلامة] |
5 Comments
HideI like the culture class here. When will Arabicpod 101 continue? Hope to hear from you soon!
Hi Lannie,
Really? Can you tell me about it?
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
This is very interesting. Sort of a Saddy Hawkins day.
.
شكراً راؤول:grin:
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
مرحبا
Very nice class. Truly interesting! Learning a language should not only include words and phrases; is important to know about the culture, usages and way of thinking of the people that speaks this language. These cultural classes allow that. THANKS A LOT for that. I´ll keep waiting for future classes like these.
شكرا لكم
راؤول