What is the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music and what is it like?

The Fes Festival of World Sacred Music is one of the most soulful cultural events Morocco offers, and it could only really happen in Fes — the country's spiritual and intellectual heart, with its thousand-year-old medina, its great mosque-university and its layered Sufi heritage. Launched in 1994 partly as a response to division in the world, its founding idea was beautiful: gather sacred and devotional music from every faith tradition and let them share a stage. It usually runs over about nine days in late spring, frequently late May or into June, though the dates and exact length vary year to year, so do verify.

What makes it special is the music and the settings in equal measure. One evening you might hear Sufi qawwali from Pakistan, the next Gregorian chant, Andalusian classical, Jewish liturgical song, Indian ragas or West African griot traditions. The performances unfold in some of the most extraordinary venues imaginable — the courtyard of the Bab al-Makina, a vast restored palace square, intimate concerts in the cedar-and-zellij splendour of historic medersas, and afternoon Sufi gatherings in shady Andalusian gardens. Hearing devotional music in a 14th-century courtyard as the call to prayer drifts over the rooftops is a feeling that stays with you.

It draws a thoughtful, international, somewhat refined crowd rather than a party crowd — this is contemplation more than celebration. Alongside the headline concerts there's often a "Sufi Nights" series of free or low-cost evening gatherings, plus a forum of talks and discussions for those who want the intellectual side. For me, the free and fringe events are where you brush shoulders with locals and the festival feels least like a ticketed spectacle.

Practical honesty: the marquee concerts are ticketed and the better seats sell out, so book the ones you care about in advance, and arrange a riad early because Fes fills up. Late May and June can be hot, and the medina is a labyrinth — I always recommend staying inside the old city and using a trusted guide or your driver to navigate to venues at night, because finding an unmarked palace door in the dark is part of the romance but also genuinely confusing.

I steer culturally curious travellers, honeymooners who want something soulful, and music lovers straight toward this one. Pair it with unhurried days exploring the tanneries, the medersas and the food of Fes, and you have a trip with real depth — the antithesis of a checklist holiday.