The Fès Festival Week

About This Tour

Built around the annual Festival of Sacred Music in Fès, with seats reserved months in advance and conversations arranged with the artists. Seven nights centred on the festival programme — concerts, sema circles, the academic talks at the Batha Museum.

• Day 1

  Arrive Fès — festival opening

  Met at Fès-Saïs airport (FEZ). Transfer to a riad inside the medina. Festival opening event in the early evening — typically a public ceremony at Bab Al Makina or the Batha Museum gardens, depending on the year's programme. The year's themes briefed over dinner with the lead guide.

• Day 2

  The medina, framed by the festival's theme

  Morning walking tour with the lead guide — medina sites chosen to relate to the year's festival theme (which changes annually). Afternoon at the Batha Museum for talks where the schedule allows. Evening concert at Bab Al Makina.

• Day 3

  Sema and main-stage concert

  Morning sema circle at a brotherhood hall — invited where the brotherhood is convening, not ticketed. Afternoon to rest at the riad before the evening main-stage concert at Bab Al Makina.

• Day 4

  Moulay Idriss day

  Drive to Moulay Idriss (about 1 hour). Walk the lanes around the shrine of Idriss II with the lead guide — the moussem traditions, the Idrissid dynasty's founding role, the architecture of the zawiya viewed from the exterior. Lunch with a host family in the holy town. Visit Volubilis (about 5 km away) in the afternoon. Return Fès in time for the evening concert.

• Day 5

  Conversations and concert

  Morning conversations with festival artists where the festival's programme team can arrange them — typically a small group of six to eight with one or two performers, with translation. Where direct conversations are not possible, the morning instead covers a Sufi-related medina walk with a scholar. Afternoon to rest before the evening concert.

• Day 6

  Free morning, headline night

  Free morning. The lead guide is reachable for a Chouara visit, a hammam, or a tailor. Late afternoon at the Batha gardens for the talks. Final festival concert in the evening — typically the headline international performance.

• Day 7

  Closing reception, free afternoon

  Festival closing in the morning. Afternoon to wander the Fès medina at the pace of someone who has now spent a week here. Final dinner with the lead guide.

• Day 8

  Until you leave Fès

  A morning in your own hand — a last walk through the medina or a quiet breakfast at the riad. Transfer to Fès-Saïs airport (FEZ, about 20 minutes) for the international flight, or to Casablanca Mohammed V (about 3 hours by car) if connecting via CMN — the lead guide arranges.