"From a slightly elevated stage, a man wearing an embroidered cape is waving his arms around animatedly. "The seven men watched from the sidelines as she beat the dog. One lashing after the next...the dog screaming out in pain," the man exclaims. And just like that, I'm hooked onto his every word, desperate to know why the woman could possibly be whipping the dog."
"Khaznaoui tells me that the annual event is designed to preserve the ancient hikayat (translating to storytelling) traditions in the region. "In Morocco, hikayat goes back over a thousand years," the founder explains. "Back then, the Jemaa el-Fna was a crucial meeting point for merchants in North Africa." "Storytellers started to perform in the square to provide entertainment for the merchants,"Khaznaoui tells me. "The tradesmen would then share their tales about traveling in the region. Storytellers would rework these travel"
The Marrakech International Storytelling Festival fills Jemaa el-Fna square with performers and attentive audiences amid bustling market activity. Professional tellers like Zouhair Khaznaoui organize annual events to preserve ancient hikayat storytelling traditions that date back over a thousand years. Storytellers historically performed to entertain merchants and to reshape travelers' tales for wider audiences. Live performances combine dramatic delivery and local cultural references to enthrall listeners, drawing crowds into silent attention despite the surrounding noise. Festival activities aim to keep oral narrative forms vibrant and relevant for new generations.
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