Safi – The 3rd edition of Nostalgia kicks off at the Kasbah of Agadir Oufella today and runs through July 26,  with three performances staged each evening from 8 p.m.

The show is a national program of Morocco’s Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, built to bring the country’s heritage sites back to life through live performance. 

Nostalgia has already traveled to Rabat’s Chellah, Marrakech, Chefchaouen, Casablanca, and Tangier. It first came to the Kasbah in 2024 and returned in 2025.

The program sets out to rehabilitate the memory of Morocco’s archaeological sites, staging their history on the ground where it happened rather than behind museum glass. 

Each stop leans on the region around it, casting local performers to retell the stories of the place they live. 

In Agadir, artists from across the Souss-Massa region come together as the event unfolds during the height of summer, when the city welcomes crowds of visitors and cooler evenings. 

Visitors experience the show on foot rather than from a seat, moving through live performances, historical reenactments, and illuminated tableaux staged among the ruins. 

Held under the theme “L’Echo de la Kasbah” (The Echo of the Kasbah), the event transforms different corners of the fortress into immersive settings, each reflecting a distinct period in its history.

The journey traces the Kasbah’s layered history, beginning with the Portuguese trading post established on the shoreline below in the early 16th century. 

The settlement was later sold to the Portuguese crown before eventually falling from its control. 

The route then ascends to the fortress built in its place, follows the Kasbah through the Alaouite era, and concludes with the stories of the revered figures associated with the site, Lalla Yamina and Abdellah Agnaou.

What the hill remembers

The Kasbah has stood on this hill since the 1560s, when the Saadian sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib raised it above the bay. 

For nearly four centuries, the Kasbah overlooked the town that grew within its walls. 

It survived the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, but the devastating 1960 Agadir earthquake reduced the old quarter to rubble, leaving only the fortress ramparts standing above the city.

A major restoration completed in 2020 reopened the Kasbah to visitors, with its hilltop offering panoramic views of Agadir and the Atlantic coast. Through July 26, the site becomes more than a lookout, retelling the history that disaster nearly erased.