Things to do · Ouarzazate
Each year, usually around May, the small town of Kelaat M'Gouna in the Valley of Roses celebrates its rose harvest with the Rose Festival — known locally as the Moussem of Roses (Festival des Roses). The valley sits in the Dadès region, east of Ouarzazate on the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs toward Boumalne Dadès, and is famous for its hedgerows of fragrant Damask roses, which are distilled into rosewater and oil. The festival fills the town with parades and floats, Amazigh (Berber) music and dance, souks of rose products and showers of rose petals, and it traditionally crowns a "Rose Queen." Exact dates shift from year to year to follow the harvest, so always confirm timing locally before you plan around it. Here is what to know.
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The Rose Festival — the Moussem of Roses, or Festival des Roses — is an annual celebration at Kelaat M'Gouna marking the Damask rose harvest in the Valley of Roses. It is part agricultural fair, part Amazigh cultural festival, drawing people from the surrounding villages and visitors from further afield to honour the rose-growing economy the valley is built on.
The festival is usually held around May, timed to coincide with the rose harvest, but the exact dates change from year to year because they follow the blooming and picking season rather than a fixed calendar date. Treat any month as a guide only and check current-year dates locally or with your accommodation before committing to plans.
The festival is known for its colourful parades and decorated floats moving through the town, with showers of rose petals and a festive crowd. A long-standing tradition is the crowning of a "Rose Queen," and the streets fill with celebration over the festival days — though specific schedules and events are best confirmed on the ground.
Music and dance are central to the moussem, with Amazigh performers and groups from the surrounding valleys taking part. The festival is as much a gathering of local Berber culture as it is a rose fair, so expect drumming, song and communal dancing alongside the rose-themed celebrations.
Stalls and souks fill with rose products during the festival — rosewater, rose soap, rose oil, dried rose buds, creams and perfumes. Kelaat M'Gouna is the natural place to buy these, and the festival is when the trade is at its busiest. As always, prices vary, so compare stalls and check what you are buying.
The Valley of Roses is planted with hedgerows of Damask roses, grown for their petals rather than as ornamentals. The harvest underpins the local economy: petals are gathered in spring and processed into rosewater, rose oil and other products that are sold both locally and beyond. The festival exists to celebrate this centuries-old rose-growing tradition.
Rose petals are picked early in the day during the harvest and distilled — typically by steam — to draw out their fragrant essence, producing rosewater and small quantities of precious rose oil. Because it takes a very large volume of petals to yield a little oil, rose oil is highly valued. Some cooperatives and workshops around Kelaat M'Gouna show parts of this process.
Kelaat M'Gouna and the Valley of Roses lie east of Ouarzazate, along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs heading toward Boumalne Dadès. The valley follows the watercourses where the roses are grown, and the town sits at its heart. From Ouarzazate it is a drive east through Skoura and the kasbah country before you reach the rose-growing valley.
Spring, around harvest time, is when the valley is at its greenest and most fragrant, with the rose hedges in bloom and the air scented as petals are gathered. Visiting then lets you see the working side of the valley — the picking and the processing — not just the festival itself, though the exact peak shifts with the season.
Kelaat M'Gouna is a small town, and accommodation fills up during the festival as visitors and people from the region arrive. If you want to be there for the festival, book well ahead, or consider basing yourself nearby in the Dadès area and travelling in. Confirm dates first so you are not caught out by the shifting calendar.
The Valley of Roses sits on the same route as the Dadès Gorge, further east and north of Boumalne Dadès, so the two pair naturally. A trip can take in the rose valley and Kelaat M'Gouna, then continue up into the dramatic cliffs and switchbacks of the Dadès Gorge for a fuller day in the region.
Kelaat M'Gouna is a stop on the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs running east from Ouarzazate, so the rose valley folds into a wider tour of the region's earthen heritage — the Skoura palmeraie and Kasbah Amridil on the way out, and the Dadès and Todra gorges beyond. The festival makes a strong reason to time such a trip for spring.
It is an annual celebration — the Moussem of Roses, or Festival des Roses — held at Kelaat M'Gouna in the Valley of Roses to mark the Damask rose harvest. It features parades and floats, Amazigh (Berber) music and dance, souks selling rosewater, soap, oil and dried rose buds, showers of rose petals and the crowning of a "Rose Queen," all celebrating the valley's centuries-old rose-growing economy.
It is usually held around May, timed to follow the rose harvest, but the exact dates change every year because they depend on the blooming and picking season rather than a fixed date. Always check the current-year dates locally or with your accommodation before planning a trip around the festival.
Kelaat M'Gouna lies east of Ouarzazate along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs, heading toward Boumalne Dadès. The Valley of Roses runs along the watercourses around the town in the Dadès region, where hedgerows of Damask roses are grown for their petals.
It pairs naturally with the Dadès Gorge, which lies on the same route further east, and with the wider Road of a Thousand Kasbahs running from Ouarzazate — taking in the Skoura palmeraie and Kasbah Amridil on the way and continuing to the Dadès and Todra gorges. Because the town is small and fills up during the festival, book accommodation well ahead and confirm dates first.
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