In the room
The experience
Bab Al Makina is a stone amphitheatre cut into the old royal palace walls. At dusk the muezzin sounds across the medina and a few minutes later the first qanun strikes from inside. The audience sits on long wooden benches, knee to knee with French and Senegalese pilgrims; the air is heavy with mint and woodsmoke from the souk a hundred metres away. The Sufi nights run past midnight, the dervishes turning in tight white columns until the floor of the stage seems to soften.
Insider tip
Walk in knowing
Buy Bab Al Makina night tickets, then walk in for the free Sufi nights at Dar Tazi. The Volubilis side concert is the deepest catch.
Why it fits
Why it is in the atlas
Architectural plus sacred plus medina, with a Roman ruins outpost. The single richest beautiful-music-in-a-beautiful-place offer in North Africa.
Plan the trip
When to go, hours, getting there
Best time to go
First two weeks of June. Bab al-Makina open-air evening programme is the headline (typically 21:00 each night). The smaller Batha Museum Andalusian-garden afternoon programme is the secret pick: free, intimate, world-class.
Hours
Annual, ten days early June. Main stage at Bab al-Makina nightly 21:00 to 23:30. Daytime programmes at Batha Museum, Jnan Sbil gardens, and the medina from 16:00.
Getting there
Fly Fes (FEZ) direct or via Casablanca. From the medina walk to Bab al-Makina via Bab Boujloud and the Talaa Kebira street, 20 minutes. Bab al-Makina is at the south-east corner of the medina, visible from a kilometre.
Straight from the source
Official site and tickets
Dates, line-ups and tickets come from the organiser. Opens fesfestival.com in a new tab.
FAQ
Questions people ask
Where is Fes Festival of World Sacred Music?
Fes Festival of World Sacred Music is in Fes, Morocco. Coordinates: 34.0623, -4.9851.
What kind of music is at Fes Festival of World Sacred Music?
Fes Festival of World Sacred Music programmes Sufi, Andalusian, Gregorian, Sacred World. Founded 1994, programmes Sufi brotherhoods, Andalusian orchestras, Indian classical, gospel and Tibetan chant across a week each June. Main concerts at the 17th-century Bab Al Makina, with side concerts at Volubilis Roman ruins.
When is the best time to visit Fes Festival of World Sacred Music?
First two weeks of June. Bab al-Makina open-air evening programme is the headline (typically 21:00 each night). The smaller Batha Museum Andalusian-garden afternoon programme is the secret pick: free, intimate, world-class.
How do I get to Fes Festival of World Sacred Music?
Fly Fes (FEZ) direct or via Casablanca. From the medina walk to Bab al-Makina via Bab Boujloud and the Talaa Kebira street, 20 minutes. Bab al-Makina is at the south-east corner of the medina, visible from a kilometre.
Why is Fes Festival of World Sacred Music in the Sonic Paths atlas?
Architectural plus sacred plus medina, with a Roman ruins outpost. The single richest beautiful-music-in-a-beautiful-place offer in North Africa.
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