Festival report: Morocco’s Zamane Festival

Thus far one of Morocco’s best-kept musical secrets, the Zamane Festival is a community-based event that takes place in the small town of M’hamid El Ghizlane [also home to Taragalte Festival], in the southern Draa valley, on the edge of the Sahara desert near the Algerian border.

Presented by the local Joudour Sahara organization, and supported by the non-profit Playing For Change Foundation – which recently created a small music school in M’hamid – the third annual festival (November 29 – December 1, 2024) highlighted the many distinct cultures of the region, emanating from the mix of Arabic, Amazigh (Berber) and Touareg (Tamasheq) people. 2024’s theme was the importance of camels to the region.

The three-day festival opened at the stunning Jardin Joudour, an incredible palm-tree oasis that looked akin to a Hollywood film set, with multiple camel caravans arriving on cue, and numerous groups of traditional musicians-dancers from various villages, all vying for our visual attention.

Over the next two days, guided walks in the morning, followed by afternoon discussion forums and dromedary races culminated in nighttime main-stage performances from high-quality regional artists. These included progressive Amazigh band Meteor Airlines from Tinghir, Daraa Tribes from Tagounite, local M’hamid group Jeunesse Désert and Assouf N’dawna, a group of Malian refugees currently residing in Mauritania’s M’bera Camp.

Saturday night’s headliner was Australian-Moroccan ngoni player and bandleader Julian Belbachir, who led his new Essaouira-based Gnawa/Aussie/Malian cross-cultural project through an intricate and extremely creative set.

But Sunday night belonged to internationally celebrated Touareg guitarist Bombino from Niger, who revved up the stage temperature by several degrees with his constantly spinning guitar licks and electrified rock desert blues. An impressive finale to one of Morocco’s most exciting new festivals.