10TH EDITION OF THE MATA INTERNATIONAL EQUESTRIAN FESTIVAL: ANCESTRAL HERITAGE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LEVER

HIBAPRESS-RABAT

In the North of the country and especially among the Chorfas of the tribes of Bni Arouss and in particular in the village of Aznid, we have always known how to preserve what would be a thousand-year-old tradition which has taken root from father to son until today.

It is very obvious today that we find again this eternal heritage which revives among the Jbalas in particular and among all Moroccans this aspect of remembering their true roots through the centuries and it is in this perspective that the MATA festival has survived and lived all its moments of glory over time and it is for this reason that we try not to forget it despite a brief stoppage mainly due to Covid-19

Today, we were able to resume this festival at its tenth edition and it’s off to a good start since the 10th edition of the Mata International Equestrian Festival opened last Friday in Madchar Zniyed (Larache Province), under the theme: “Mata: An ancestral heritage and a lever for sustainable development”, with the participation of more than 167 riders from the Jbala tribes of the region.

Placed under the High Patronage of HM King Mohammed VI, this festival, initiated by the Alamia Laâroussia Association for social and cultural action, in partnership with the International Festival for Cultural Diversity of UNESCO, aims to safeguard a heritage ancestral equestrian of the North region, contribute to the economic and tourist development, and to promote the products of the soil and the craft industry of the region.

The opening ceremony of this cultural event, which took place in the presence of the Wali of the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region Mohamed Mhidia, the Secretary General of the Province of Larache, the Minister of Equipment and ‘Eau, Nizar Baraka, the Consul General of Spain in Tangier, representatives of the Regional Council, the Director General of the Agency for the Promotion and Development of the North (APDN) Mounir El Bouyoussfi, and many cultural actors of the Region, was marked by the presentation of the equestrian teams which take part in the competition of the popular game Mata and folklore shows.

In a statement to the press, the president of the festival, Nabil Baraka, stressed that this cultural meeting returns in a new form, after a two-year suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic, noting that the novelty of this edition consists in making the International Equestrian Festival of Mata a space for transcontinental cultural, social and economic communication.

Mr. Baraka said that horse riding enthusiasts and lovers of nature and the authentic heritage of the region will be rewarded by artistic and sports shows, aimed at highlighting the ancestral cultural heritage, through the Mata competition, underlining that the festival aims to revive and preserve the traditional Moroccan civilizational heritage and to consecrate the national values ​​of social solidarity and cooperation.

This Festival, he continued, also aims to contribute to the promotion of the tourist, cultural and social dynamics of the region and to support local development, recalling that the previous editions have experienced a large influx of lovers of the horseback riding and this popular game from all over the world.

The first day of the festival was marked by the opening of the exhibition of local products and crafts, with the participation of cooperatives representing the different regions of Morocco, as well as Mauritanian cooperatives, said Mr. Baraka, noting that a special welcome was reserved for the permanent guests of honor of the Festival from the southern provinces of the Moroccan Sahara.

“The Mata festival is a locomotive for the development of ecological tourism and an opportunity to promote the international influence of the region, thanks to the participation of guests from all over the world”, he said, indicating that this edition offers festive activities, in order to attract a public passionate about authentic traditions and the cultural and artistic heritage of the region.

For his part, the director of this edition, Omar Hajji, stressed that this three-day event is marked by the organization of an exhibition of local products and crafts and the official launch of the equestrian competition between riders and the participating equestrian teams, making it known that this competition will take place throughout the Festival, given that this sport constitutes a cultural heritage common to all of humanity.

The galleries of the festival will host an artistic evening presented by celebrities of ancestral popular music on October 1, as well as other activities which will consolidate this forum of heritage, noted Mr. Hajji, specifying that the festival will lower the curtain by revealing the winner of the Mata doll, a glorious moment of this diversified ancestral event, with all its cultural and social activities.

For his part, the president of the association Council of sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco (CMSM), Serge Aimé Guemou, said he was happy to participate in this festival, an opportunity to celebrate the close and deep ties between Morocco and the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, calling for the generalization of this type of initiative both in Morocco and in other African countries, in order to promote the exchange of experiences in the cultural field, particularly in the area of ​​heritage preservation.

Thousands of visitors and guests, from Morocco and abroad, flock to this forum to celebrate this popular legacy, around which many historical tales are woven and told by the women in their songs, with a reverberation of horsemen on their horse racing course.

This Festival also includes other spaces for children and the environment, as well as an exhibition of local products and crafts, an opportunity to highlight the assets of the Jbala region and its development potential.

This annual meeting celebrates an ancestral culture through which the rehabilitated sense of honor, rooted faith, and patriotism are expressed as a Sufi school, spiritual and universal value.

All around Jbel Allam, the peasants welcomed spring by playing this particularly original game which calls on the courage, the skill, the flexibility, the delicacy, the intelligence and the finesse of those who play it. indulge. It is a game where horse and rider, in perfect symbiosis, celebrate a legendary complicity and above all the ancestral culture of this extraordinary region.

Even today, and practically every year, the tradition is jealously preserved by the tribes of Bni Arous and the rules of the game scrupulously respected: after the screening of the wheat fields, first in the village of Aznid, then in d n other villages thereafter, young girls and women of the tribe who are entrusted with this operation accompany it with their songs and their dinghies, to the sound of ghaitas and drums specific to the region.

According to oral tradition, the winner of the “MATA” game is the one who, using his skill and his boldness, will be able to snatch the doll from the other riders and take it away.

10TH EDITION OF THE MATA INTERNATIONAL EQUESTRIAN FESTIVAL: ANCESTRAL HERITAGE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LEVER – HIBAPRESS