You have to believe that the number 13 is really bad luck! And for good reason, Festibaz, the festival that celebrates the donkey, organized in Beni Ammar Zerhoun by the “Relance” Association for Integrated Development (ARDI) and which for three years has been waiting to be seen in its thirteenth edition, does not will not take place as planned.
Dame Covid had twice prevented this event, which was very popular with many Moroccans. There you go, ARDI, a structure of which Mohamed Belmou is the president, has just announced the postponement of this Festival which is held regularly in Beni Ammar Zerhoun, (Festibaz), in the region of the Ismaelite city, Meknes, precisely in the Zerhoun valley about fifteen from Moulay Idriss Zerhoun.
The reason would be administrative. “Once again, we are forced to postpone the 13th edition of the Beni Ammar Zerhoun Festival, which we would have liked to organize this summer. said ARDI. The Association further gave the reason for this cancellation, “This time, the reason is not due to the lack of support, or to the unjust discrimination against the “Moroccan village” from which our festival suffers, but to the failure to obtain the receipt for the deposit of the general assembly. Ordinary (AGO) held on Saturday, April 9, 2022, and which we are waiting for until this day. However, we have made various attempts to do so, to no avail. To finance the festival, it is imperative to include it in the support request files. It is still necessary“.
ARDI has therefore apologized to the fans, friends and public of the festival, as well as to the national, Arab and international media who follow the Graubünden with punctuality and regularity. The donkey is the symbol of the Democratic Party in the United States. The association also affirmed its insistence on “defend the rights of the inhabitants of the Kasbah of Beni Ammar and Mount Zerhoun and the rights of its fans and supporters everywhere in the region of Zerhoun”.Note that Festibaz is listed as intangible national heritage and was awarded the international prize of the Swiss capital, Geneva, because of the celebration of a beautiful, servile and loyal animal throughout history (the donkey).
Festibaz aims to change negative societal representations and mentalities against him, and to raise awareness about his roles in the service of man throughout history, as he was a faithful servant of the prophets, carrying man and his burdens in the steep mountains and in the wide plains, cultivating his lands, transporting his agricultural crops, his luggage and building materials, his possessions as well as being a tracer of paths. It is rumored that it was the Kingdom that would have been the first country to have domesticated it (African wild ass) and was the first exporter in the world.
ARDI said accordingly “to be imbued with the virtue of gratitude towards, this faithful beast, intelligent, robust, docile, patient, and kind to celebrate it and to recognize its virtues, as an icon of our festival and to make it a real locomotive for the development of the region, despite all the difficulties and obstacles we face“. The Association has made an appointment with its fans as soon as the necessary conditions are met for the 13th edition of the Festibaz, which rewards the most beautiful and fastest donkeys. During the last edition of Festibaz, it was Cleopatra, a donkey, who was crowned queen of donkeys. The million donkeys that Morocco had in 2019 has become a figure that is drastically decreasing. A victim of modern times and mechanization, this gr is gradually being replaced by scooters.
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