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Primarily a literary festival, AiM is held the weekend before the international film festival, with art events and exhibitions also featuring.

This 16th-century town house is a cultural centre and holds regular exhibitions of foreign and local artists, often with Gnawa musicians performing on opening nights. Its small library contains art and heritage books which you can browse through while enjoying some tea or coffee (see Dar Cherifa ).

Held each June in Essaouira , the festival is four days and nights of Gnawa and world music. Two stages are reserved for international artists, but impromptu jam sessions are held all over the medina.

This is a contemporary art gallery at the northern end of the New City and holds regularly changing exhibitions of local artists. The owner, Lucien Viola, a renowned international collector of carpets, also has plans to open a contemporary art museum.

Usually meaning a fortified village, here kssour refers to a restored private town house in the medina. A private members’ club, it opens to the public for Sufi music events, readings and exhibitions.

Troupes from all over Morocco perform at this annual celebration of Berber music and dance held in June or July. Don’t miss the magnificent fantasia, a charge of Berber horsemen, outside the ramparts near the Bab El Jedid.

Sponsored by movie fan King Mohammed VI, the festival was launched in 2001 and is held in November. Guests who have walked the red carpet include Martin Scorsese and Sean Connery.

Created by architect Charles Boccara , this building is a modern adaptation of traditional Islamic models. Sadly, the 1,200-seat venue is rarely occupied. Nearly 15 years after its design was first undertaken, it remains incomplete due to lack of funds (see Théâtre Royal ).