Imilchil, a mountainous region located between the peaks of the High Atlas, celebrates each year the engagement and wedding season, during which families and parents commemorate the story of forbidden love that brought together Isli and Tislit, two young people, from two Amazigh tribes at war, whose leaders refused to allow their passion to be crowned with marriage. That’s how a legend was born. It says that their tears have never stopped flowing, giving rise to two lakes named after them.
With the arrival of September, which coincides with the harvest season, after many months spent in the hard work of the land to ensure the subsistence of families, Imilchil is transformed into a space of joy and celebration on the occasion of this season, during which the marriage contracts between the young couples of the different tribes are sealed in memory of the legend of Isli and Tislit.
Thus, the whole region is draped in joy. The season is announced with specific songs and dances for this occasion. Traditional meals, handed down from generation to generation for millennia, are prepared by the people of the region, and visitors and tourists arrive in droves to share exceptional celebrations that, according to historical accounts, date back several centuries.
The moussem is also a great opportunity for the commercial and tourist dynamics in the region, during which Amazigh culture and art are also promoted.
The moussem takes place every year near the mausoleum of Sidi Ahmed Oulmghani, a descendant of the chorafas idrissides who, it is said, played a major role in the reconciliation between the two rival tribes, the Ait Ibrahim and the Ait Yaaza, from whom the two unfortunate lovers came.
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