No Barriers: Women Stand Tall Beside Men in Tbourida Festival

If you think that fantasia or tbourida is simply a male activity, you need to attend the Yacoub El Mansour Tbourida Festival in Rabat. Here, women riders, alongside men, are at the heart of the event, as highlighted by “Africa News” Outlet on Thursday.
The word tbourida is derived from the Arabic word baroud, which means gunpower. Gunpowder is used as a highlight of the festival when the riders shoot off their muskets. Tbourida is seen as a re-enactment of military attacks launched against enemies by Arab and Amazigh horsemen.
In an interview with Africa News, Mahjouba Nabata, President of the Alhaouzia Tbourida Association, stated that she began learning how to ride and shoot for tbourida in 2007. After just two years, she competed in the Hassan II Tbourida Competition as the youngest rider, finishing second.
Nabata is part of a small, but growing, group of women that compete in tbourida, and in the past decades, all-female troupes can be found competing across the genre. King Mohammed VI appointed Princess Lalla Amina as the first female president of the Moroccan Equestrian Federation, and, from 2005 to 2011, the princess sponsored an all-female tbourida competition.
Tbourida competitions are organized every year, primarily but not exclusively in the summers, in all regions of Morocco. Tbourida was listed as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage in 2021.
This art form dates to the 15th century. A group of riders and horses participating in the tbourida consists of 11 to 15 riders lined up on a starting line. Each team is led by the mqadem, or leader, who takes his or her place at the center of the troop and coordinates the movements of the riders and horses.
Tbourida rider Mustapha Elaraby stated that tbourida is part of Morocco’s ancestral cultural heritage. It is a practice and a passion that has been passed down through the generations. This generational conservation is how the art of tbourida has been preserved until the present day.