Tan-Tan participants say they had great time

abu dhabi - The "muzmar" sounded in Tan-Tan one last time. In a circle, Emirati men were dancing and singing traditional tunes that came from their Arabian Gulf coastal homes, 6,000 kilometres away. The show was so catchy, even local visitors joined in the Abu Dhabi folklore group.
"Moroccans love traditional music and dancing, so this year we brought with us music and instruments not just from the desert, but from the coast too, just to add more variety to our folklore," said Ibrahim Al Araimi, a representative of the Abu Dhabi Folkloric Group.
There was the "muzmar", a type of bagpipes and the "jerbah", a short metal blow horn, along with the usual "bib" and "shindu" drums.
"Most of these instruments are night time ones. During the day we only use smaller drums and tambourines, but at night is when the big party starts and especially at weddings, these musical instruments attract more people, who join us for dancing, even women," said Ibrahim.
As he looked through some video recordings of the show, fresh memories and stories keep pouring in from the recent trip to Tan-Tan.
"We had a great time. There were hundreds of visitors coming to visit us at our UAE camp every day of the festival, eager to learn about our traditions," added Ibrahim.
This mid May was the third consecutive year the UAE joined the Tan-Tan Moussem festival in southwestern Morocco, which celebrates the tribal traditions of Sahara Bedouins.
A delegation of 200 Emirati men and women made the trip from Abu Dhabi to Tan-Tan earlier this May, led by the Cultural Programmes and Heritage Festivals Committee - Abu Dhabi, representing the General Women's Union, the Camel Racing Federation and Abu Dhabi's Veterinary Research Centre.
"This year we had six objectives for the festival, focusing on celebrating the strong ties between UAE and Morocco," said Abdullah Butti Al Qubaisi, director of Projects Management and Communication at the Committee.
"Our intention was also to exchange experience and expertise through the role of women in preserving heritage, to tell about the Emirati intangible heritage such as sadu, henna, burqa, hospitality, traditional children's games and toys, folklore, poetry and camel activities. We were as well celebrating our Year of Reading by having an exhibition of 150 books," added Al Qubaisi.
The books - 100 titles from the National Library and 50 from the Prince of Poets - were donated at the end of the festival to the UAE embassy in Morocco to give away freely to organisations that would need them most.
"The biggest success for us this year was the inauguration of the camel racing track at the festival," said Shaikh Sultan bin Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, advisor to the UAE President and president of the UAE Camel Federation Committee.
Now that the first professional camel race track was built, the UAE is also helping Morocco to establish camel racing by gifting them six racing camels and training camel racing jockeys in handling the racing camels.
silvia@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE
• Abu Dhabi

Silvia Radan

silvia@khaleejtimes.com