Berber marriage festival - Imilchil, Morocco

The Berber Marriage Festival and Market takes place every September in Imilchil, a small village deep within the Atlas ranges in Morocco. Here, young couples are married in a collective ceremony in which they choose a spouse for themselves. Traditionally, the ceremony was held just after summer coinciding with a rural market in which many people of the remote areas came to sell and buy everything necessary to endure the hard winter. It was a practical solution to avoid the trip to the capital of the province, the authorities were there for the market. Nowadays everything has changed, the festival is a touristic venue and the authorities have taken control of the ceremony. The Berbers come, get married and disappear to celebrate their union at home, not in the market as before.