Chichaoua

The story of Chichaoua

Chichaoua is the seat of Chichaoua Province in the Marrakesh-Safi region of Morocco, and the town gave the province its name. The 2024 census counted 38,452 residents.

The commune of Sidi Mokhtar, in the same province, lies between Marrakech and Essaouira and is a rural community with its own cultural associations.

One of them, the Association Sidi Mokhtar pour la culture et les arts, organizes an annual summer festival there that included tbourida (horseback fantasia) shows, sports competitions and concerts by folk groups in its fourth edition in August 2014.

Historical records on the town itself are limited in the sources consulted, so this page concentrates on the area's role as a host of traditional hunting events.

Falconry in Chichaoua

The International Festival of Traditional Hunting has been held in Chichaoua province.

Its first edition took place in 2010, and the second ran from 5 to 8 September 2013 in the commune of Sidi Mokhtar, organized by the Royal Moroccan Federation of Traditional Hunting and the national centre for the protection of the sloughi, in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and the High Commission for Water, Forests and the Fight Against Desertification.

Delegations from several countries were invited, including France, Portugal, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Tunisia and Algeria.

The third edition (5 to 7 September 2014) focused on falconry and sloughi hunting under the theme of protecting sloughi heritage, with a traditional shooting contest and a lecture on the breed's history.

Morocco is one of the countries that nominated falconry for UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.