The first edition of Morocco’s National Sahara Festival, hosted by the National Forum for Youth Rights, began on Friday evening in Assa (Southern Provinces), with the theme “Tangible and Intangible Heritage and the Challenges of the New Development Model.”
The festival, which runs until June 5, aims to highlight tangible and intangible cultural heritage–as well as the role of heritage in the human rights system–and the encouragement of the entrepreneurial spirit to develop small and medium-sized partnerships at the local, regional, and national levels.
President of Morocco’s National Forum for Youth Rights Younes Ouadi stressed that the purpose of this new festival is to showcase the cultural, touristic, ecological, and agricultural features of the Guelmim-Oued Noun region, as well as to introduce visitors to Amazigh and Hassani history.
He elaborated that this event is also an opportunity to support and promote African cultural and artistic exchanges, as well as to enhance peoples’ common human and intangible heritage, emphasizing that tangible and intangible heritage is a critical lever for achieving development in Assa.
The goal is also to emphasize the region’s Jewish cultural heritage, particularly through the historic Assa Palace, which represents a long history of coexistence and tolerance between Jews and Muslims in the region.
The first edition of the festival will feature a number of activities, including an exhibition of Sahrawi and Amazigh handicrafts, along with seminars and discussions on a variety of topics, such as the role of oases and renewable energy in investment, and the national handicrafts register. Artistic-themed evenings are also on the agenda.