Christmas Traditions In Morocco

Children go to school as normal most people have no idea that it s christmas.
Christmas traditions in morocco. However there is a large and growing foreign population in morocco and yes there are moroccan christians so christmas does exist. Read the article i wrote on this subject for the twelve countries blog here. A particular type seven vegetable couscous is the norm on the islamic holy day. Sidi ifni morocco every year on december 25th people in christian majority countries across the globe celebrate christmas among the common greetings among these people is merry christmas.
The word for friday in arabic means ensemble and as the holy day it sees a lot of people grouped in mosques. Overview of moroccan culture. Understanding cultural and religious festivals. However there is no reason you can t bring moroccan inspiration to your christmas celebrations.
The inhabitants of morocco celebrate numerous muslim and national festivals through the year. Christmas is celebrated in morocco how you want to celebrate it there is no local tradition as such. The culture may differ from one region to another and is particularly evident in cuisine art clothing music and clothing. Morocco is a muslim country so christmas isn t on the holiday radar.
Morocco is a majority muslim country and christmas is not a muslim holiday so morocco at christmas is not a holiday. The culture of morocco is a blend of ethnic tradition and religion reflecting the berber african arabs and jewish influence. Destination 2 ouirgane in the mountains take a 90 km jaunt southwest of marrakesh into the foothills of the atlas mountains to discover the region of ouirgane and marigha. While couscous is widely eaten in many countries around the globe this staple food of morocco is traditionally enjoyed on fridays.
Morocco is a muslim country so christmas is not an official banks stores closed holiday in morocco. Evening celebration christmas or new year s eve explore morocco discover its main attractions enjoy some sunshine celebrate christmas or welcome in 2015 in thrilling marrakech. Morocco used to be a protectorate of france so there are many people living in morocco with french citizenship or french ancestry including many but not all are french catholics who do celebrate christmas. The dates for most of their religious holidays are worked out on the lunar calendar and this makes it virtually impossible to predict when these dates will fall on the western calendar that most people in other parts of the world use.
This area is scattered with berber villages and can make a good starting or stop off point for mountain treks in the atlas.