What is ahwach, the Berber village performance?

Ahwach is ahidous’s southern relative, and seeing a full one is unforgettable. It comes from the Souss valley and the southern slopes of the High Atlas — the country around Ouarzazate, Taroudant, Tafraoute and the Berber south. Where ahidous tends to be rows of dancers, ahwach is often built around great circles, and it can be huge: in a big village celebration you might see dozens or even more than a hundred performers taking part at once.

The performance unfolds in stages and can last late into the night. It usually opens with a vocal or poetic introduction, then the drummers — ranks of men with bendirs and other frame drums — build a dense, interlocking rhythm, warming the skins over a fire to tune them as they go. Dancers move in the circle, clapping and stepping, while chanted call-and-response poetry in Tamazight passes back and forth. Different villages or groups may take turns, almost competing, and the energy ratchets upward in waves.

What sets ahwach apart is its scale and its ceremonial weight. It is not background music; it is the centrepiece of the gathering, a display of the whole community’s artistry, memory and unity. The poetry can be profound or playful, and the layered drumming is mesmerising live — you feel the rhythm reorganise itself around you. It is one of the oldest living performance traditions in Morocco.

Because it is so tied to village life, the most authentic ahwach happens at local moussems, weddings and harvest festivals across the south, and it features at cultural festivals in places like Ouarzazate and Agadir. When I design southern itineraries that pass through the Draa or the Souss during festival season, I always check whether an ahwach is happening — it is the kind of thing you simply cannot stage for tourists and have it feel the same.