Why should we preserve Berber Festivals?
The Berber Bride Festival is a festival where people can find a person to marry. It is held in the High Atlas Mountains in a village called Imilchil every September. The festival is important because the local people don’t have time to marry during their daily lives. They can go to this festival and all matters are taken care off in one week and when they leave the two people are married.
The Berber Bride Festival also has a story behind it. Two lovers Isli and Tislet wanted to marry but were from enemy tribes. So their parents disapproved marriage. The two lovers were so sad that they filled up tow lakes on either side of their mountain. When they were full both of them committed suicide in each of their lakes. They thought that this would reunite their souls after death.
A big problem about this festival is tourism. Tourists heard about this festival and wanted to come. In 1965 the government opened the festival to all people. This had an negative effect on the festival. Marrying couples were nervous and scared because of such a big audience. The amount of people marrying decreased fast. In 2002 only 6 pairs married while in past years around 30 pairs married each year. The organizers are worried that the festival will lose its attraction and will have to stop happening.
I think we should preserve Berber Festivals because it is part of Berber Culture. All the things like tradition, food, life style and etc make up Berber Culture. If we just take out one part of these things then Berber Culture will be weakened and slowly fall apart. Then the Berber Culture will be forgotten with the Berber themselves. Every piece that makes up Berber culture is important. It is important to keep and develop Berber Culture because if everybody would have the same culture then every person on the world would be the same.
The Berber Culture is part of an even bigger culture, the Moroccan Culture. If the Berbers stop believing in their Culture it will be soon lost in the Moroccan one. The Berbers are part of Moroccan society. To have a part in this society you have to play a role in culture and be part of a Culture. The people in the society all contribute something of their own which makes the whole society even more unique. That’ why it is important the Berbers keep their culture.
I wonder how the Berbers got the idea for creating such a big event. I think you made a great choice in chosing, because it is something different from the others.
ReplyDeleteQ: Why do you think that the Berbers created such a place for the single?
I liked your keynote, it was neat and colorful with variable information. I think your presentation was unique because nobody else did berber festival. (At least I think...) My question is before they do their huge festival, how much of money did they all cost to prepare?
ReplyDeleteQ: Did everyone have to get married in that place or can they get married where they want because they have to pay and what if they don't have enough money to pay for the marriage?
ReplyDeleteI liked your keynote presentation because you had a lot of slides that really made us understand your topic and why you thought the Berber festivals should be preserved.
Q. Why were the Berbers able to chose their own companions, is it because they thought that the same or similar thing that happened to the Isli and Tislet would happen to their kids?
ReplyDeleteLivia, you had a nice presntation and I really like that you talked about the tale of Isli and Tislet.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the topic you chose was very interesting, and that you've seemed to try to find as much information as possible.
ReplyDeleteQ: Why do you think that this tale means a lot to how the lakes were created?
Hi Livia, your presentation was really organized and was a pleasure to listen! I agree about the tourist and people are scared of seeing such a good audience... They might feel like an entertainment for all these people watching. I don't understand why tourists come to see these marriages. After all, they didn't get invited! Would it please them to see people they don't know coming to their marriages and start taking pictures and make trouble? It was a good idea to point out this fact.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I still have a question: They notice that during marriages, an amount of tourists are watching them for their entertainment. Why don't they then find a more private place to do their festivals?
Question : Why did the Berber invent festivals?
ReplyDeleteYour presentation was good, interesting, and a pleasure for me to listen to. I totally agree with fact that Berber festivals should be kept, because they are part of the Berber culture, and if they disappear, a part of the Berber culture is going to disappear, and because the Berber culture is part of the Moroccan culture, a part of the Moroccan culture will disappear, too.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated your presentation, i agree that berber festivals are part of the berber culture and they should preserve it. We should not get berber culture a part so it doesn't disappear. Berber festivals have lot of different parts of the Berber culture such as food, music, dancing and other berber traditions. I think during berber festivals we shouldn't allow strangers.
ReplyDeleteWhy are the Berbers celebrating festivals in the central village?
Your presentation taught me new things about this festival and I liked the story that you told us about. Berber Festivals are very important to Berbers also because they could see each other and socialize. I agree that we need to keep Berber Bride festivals but how about the other festivals? I also agree that berber festivals are part of Berber Culture.
ReplyDeleteWhy did the berbers need a festival for a marriage why not just find a women from nearby places?
I found your tale of the isli and tislet very interesting! You also explained the different sections really well.
ReplyDeleteAre there any other places like the one in Imichil, where Berbers come together to find a partner and to get married?
Im pretty sure not all Berbers could make a trip that far.
Comment:
ReplyDeleteBerber festivals are really an endangered festivals and it should definitely be closed to tourists. Why should berber couples suffer because of nosy tourists?
Question
Is the legend about the 2 lovers the only reason this tradition was made or is there another reason?
Great presentation Livia, I agree that we should keep the Berber Festivals, as you said, but also it their way of celebrating something. It's not fair to tae away their festivals, it's like taking away thanksgiving or christmas.
ReplyDeleteHow long does the preperation take? and is their a certain amount of money involved?
I like how you employed the story perfectly in your presentation
ReplyDeleteBut I don't get what you mean by berber festival is part of their culture. Well the berbers can live without that festival perfectly right?
I loved your whole presentation, I could tell you put alot of effort in this.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: why do women paint hennah on their hands during special occassions?