Rose Valley Morocco Festival
In early May one of the most popular festivals in Morocco takes place, the “ Rose valley Morocco Festival ”. The celebrating the harvest of roses in the small town of Kelaat M’gouna. Located in the Dades Valley, which it is already known as the “ Valley of Roses ”.
The town is famous for its sea of pink Persian rose landscapes. El Kelaa Des Mgouna has a vast distilling plant. Capet Florale that accounts for producing litres of rose water popular in the nation’s cooking and perfumery. Further The rose capital also produces other goods made of eau de rose such as hand and body soaps, oil, crème perfume and dried flowers that are popular among Moroccans and tourists.
The Damask rose was brought to El Kelaa Des Mgouna in 1938 by the French. At that time El Kelaa Des Mgouna’s first rose water distillery was opened. Shortly after the first Rose Festival began and has been a tradition ever since.
El Kelaat M’gouna ” the Rose Valley “
In the Valley of Roses will find miles of pink, small Persian roses-cultivated as hedgerows dividing the plots of land. In spring, you can buy a garland of fragrant roses from one of the Berber children who line the route.
During the month of May, an annual three-day Rose Festival takes place in the Valley of the Roses. Morocco’s Rose Festival occupies the souk area of El Kelaa Des Mgouna, the town responsible for the rosy festivities. During this time, travelers come from all over to attend the festivities where a Rose Queen is elected to reign over the year’s scented crop. In addition the factories in El Kelaa Des Mgouna produce 3000-4000 petals a year. With ten tons of petals required to produce a few liters of precious oil. The harvest is understandably a labor of love and the culminating festivities of the annual Rose Festival are all the livelier for it.
Surprisingly, Rose water is expensive for Moroccans. The reason for its price tag is the fact that the four thousand two hundred kilometers of rose hedges can only produce one thousand four hundred liters of the product. The process uses approximately three thousand kilograms of rose petals to extract a liter of rose oil. Visitors who attend the Festival of Roses will therefore see tons of rose petals being transported to the factories to extract the precious oils, leaving a trail of rose scent throughout the town.
As with all festivals in Morocco, the annual Rose Festival boasts delicious food alongside traditional Berber local tribes singing, dancing, displaying sword maneuvers and playing traditional musical instruments; plus a parade of floats with the nominees for Ms. Roses who sit upon them.
Rose valley Festival Morocco Clothing
Unique to this festival are the rose perfumed streets. Moroccan women wearing traditional head scarves decorated with bright colored velvety flowers, and boys and girls wearing rose-garlands. Floral decorated floats, camel-rides, and an excursion organized by the festival coordinators to take a bus ride from Ouarzazate to the Valley of the Roses are a few of the highlights available to all.
The crowds at the festival are thick as a pink cloud; however, if you are a traveler you are in luck. Look for a spot reserved for tourists and dignitaries for the best views of the festival. Don’t forget to look out for well dressed women in pink tulle and men dressed in white turbaned robes.
The purpose of the festival is for rose farmers to celebrate the year’s crops and to celebrate the beauty of nature. The Rose valley Morocco Festival is one of the prettiest and most popular celebrations in Morocco. Visitors come to enjoy breathing in the sweet scents of the petals as well as being surrounded by the natural beauty of the High Atlas Mountains.
(The date of the festival depends on the collection of roses, exact date can be know one month before the Atlas festival Morocco)