Rabat – The British embassy in Rabat announced today the first edition of the Marrakech International Storytelling Festival. The multilingual event will take place in the Moroccan Red City on February 12-20 with the participation of over 40 storytellers from five continents, according to the press release. 

The Storytellers Union for Cultural Innovation and the Art of Storytelling & World Storytelling Cafe are organizing the event.

The British embassy is the main partner to the event together with Al Muniya Association, and 24 local Riads that will host the international storytellers. Haj. Ahmed Ezzarghani, a prominent storyteller in Marrakech, will be the guest of honor. 

The week-long festival seeks to make the storytelling scene in Marrakech “healthier” and promote tourism in the Red medina, John Row the festival’s artistic director told Morocco World News. 

Row highlighted how the festival is a continuation of local and international efforts to promote storytelling tradition in Marrakech such as the storytelling Cafe launched by Michael Wood and Al Muniya Marrakech School of Storytelling among others. 

Thus, the organizers were “very keen to collaborate with Moroccan storytellers,” he added. Row highlighted how Moroccan organizers played a major role in establishing the festival, saying “all credits go to Zohair Khaznaoui [one of the Moroccan organizers].”

Lucie Andersen-Wood, the founder of World Storytelling Cafe, commented: “We believe storytelling has a powerful potential for connection, healing, and education.” She stressed that the organizers’ objective is to make the festival “a tourist attraction as well as an ongoing resource for the local community.” 

The British Ambassador Simon Martin expressed his excitement about the event, stating: “We are delighted to join this crossroads of cultures, hosting renowned storytellers and offering the opportunity to curious minds to travel through stories and explore different cultures.”

As home to revered storytellers and circles of Halqa, Marrakech will host a series of events for the festival in nine known venues including Jemaa El Fnaa, Henna Cafe, University of Cadi Ayaad, and Dar Bellarj. 

Two events on “tribal storytelling and dance” and “Australasian and Asian tellers plus festival tellers” will be held on February 15 at 11 a.m and February 19 at 11 a.m, respectively.

The public can virtually sign up for Zoom sessions or physically join at World Storytelling Cafe. 

Notably, all events are free of charge. The festival’s artistic director John Row urges the public to attend, saying that  “we would welcome everyone.”

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In addition to being free, the festival provides a platform for a wide range of storytellers from different nationalities and cultures. 

Some of the guests will host panel discussions throughout the festival. On February 14 (3 p.m.), the Irish and Finnis storytellers, Colin Urwin and  Riikka Palinen, will inaugurate the festival with a panel discussion entitled “National Stories” at Al Muniya Marrakech School of Storytelling. 

The British storyteller, Amy Douglas, will participate in two panel discussions on “The Challenge of Motherhood for Working Artists” and “Keeping the Tradition Alive” on February 15 (3 p.m.) and February 17 (3 p.m.), respectively. 

Additionally, Moroccan author Yassine Adnane will launch his latest novel at Dar Bellarj on February 16 at 2 p.m. The book launch was scheduled to coincide with the book fair. Yet the event was canceled due to the pandemic situation. 

The Festival’s artistic director urges the public to attend the book launch and the halqa sessions held the same day. 

Along with other invitees, the panelists will participate in the festival’s highlight on February 16, when the participants will march from Dar Bellarj to the Jemaa El Fnaa square. 

“Throughout the evening five storytelling circles will operate simultaneously, each overseen by one of the five surviving master storytellers of Marrakech. All the festival tellers will participate as well as some honored guests,” the statement added.