BOOKSTHEATRELIVE MUSICSHORT FILMSLIVE MUSICFestivals & Events
The place to go for listings of events and local info is Tanger Pocket, a brochure (in French)
available at most hotels and online (www.tangerpocket.com).
Salon International de Tanger des Livres et des Arts
( 0539 94 10 54; Institut Français, 41 Rue Hassan ibn Ouazzane; www.amba-france-
ma.org) Annual weeklong book festival with varying themes, held in April.
Le Festival International de Théâtre Amateur
( 0539 93 03 06; Fondation Lorin, 44 Rue Touahine) A week of Arabic- and French-
speaking theatre, traditionally held every May, run by Fondation Lorin.
TANJAzz
(www.tanjazz.org) Held in September, this ever-popular festival hosts concerts by local and
international jazz musicians, including some leading names.
Festival du Court Métrage Méditerranéen
(International Mediterranean Short Film Festival; www.ccm.ma) Weeklong festival of short
films from around the Mediterranean, held in October.
Tanja Latina
( 0539 93 03 06; Fondation Lorin) Held in November, this is Tangier’s growing attempt to
follow in Rio’s footsteps.
GERALD LOFTUS, DIRECTOR, AMERICAN LEGATION MUSEUM
After a career in the foreign service, I’d retired to Brussels. But then this job came along and I so enjoy the cultural aspects of
living in North Africa that I couldn’t resist it. I particularly love the old part of the Legation house as it represents the essence of
a medina home.
I’m busy changing the context of the museum to give it a better sense of history. In the James McBey room there’s the
famous painting of Zohra. She’s still alive – she was only 15 when the painting was done in 1952. Her sons live in the US now
and her daughter works at the US Embassy in Rabat.
We have a whole wing for Paul Bowles now at the museum, and a comprehensive bookshop. Bowles was not only a writer,
but spent many years recording indigenous music in Morocco, which was very important work. The recordings were always
pretty much unobtainable, but for the Paul Bowles Centenary in 2010, I asked the Library of Congress to digitalise the music,
and it’s now available.
Our library is open to writers and researchers, and we continue to teach literacy, cooking, sewing, art and foreign languages
to medina women. One of our students became an artist and earned enough money to electrify her home. Our oldest student
is 81.Sleeping
Tangier’s sleeping options cater to all budgets and styles, spanning the spectrum from the ultra-
cheap pensiónes (guesthouses) near the port to the chic hotels along the oceanfront. Most
budget accommodation options are clustered around the medina and close to the port gate.