The Tan-Tan Moussem is the annual gathering of the nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes of the Moroccan South and Mauritania, who meet around the town of Tan-Tan (Tan-Tan province, south of the Souss) to celebrate, trade, marry and conclude alliances. The tradition goes back to the 19th century, around the saint Sidi Mohammed Laghdaf.
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Video · The gesture in motion
to be replacedi. Origins
The moussem took shape from around 1860 around the zaouïa of Sidi Mohammed Laghdaf, where the brotherhoods of the great Hassani tribes — Aït Oussa, Reguibat, Tekna, Oulad Delim, Aït Lahcen — came on pilgrimage. Beyond the religious, it functioned as a trade fair, a camel market, a customary court of arbitration for inter-tribal conflicts, and a place of matrimonial encounter.
ii. Programme
The festival lasts about ten days in May-June. It comprises: a camp of khaïma tents pitched on the historic site, a guedra procession of horsemen, camel races, hassani singing contests, poetry evenings, demonstrations of Saharan craft (carpets, leather, silverwork). Since 2004 the Ministry of Culture has organised an official annual re-edition.
iii. The guedra
An emblematic female dance of the Hassani tribes, the guedra is danced on the knees, under a long black veil, to the sound of the eponymous drum. It is performed by a single woman at a time, who mimes, through the movements of her arms and fingers, the flight of birds and the breath of the desert. It ends with a ritual fainting.
iv. Today
Interrupted from 1979 to 2004 because of the Western Sahara conflict, the Moussem was officially re-established by royal decision in 2004 and placed under the patronage of King Mohammed VI. It today welcomes more than 500,000 annual visitors, has become a diplomatic and cultural event, and plays a central role in the policy of preserving Hassani heritage.