again. I was going back, this time to create
the story of the desert rose. I knew Morocco
had a place called the Valley of the Roses,
but besides having a pin on Google maps
I knew nothing more. Even if you had
heard about the Festival of Roses, knowing
the right time to be in the valley was a
challenging task. You won’t find dates or
any information about the festival online.
All anyone will tell you is: “The festival is in
May.” So May it was! I left at the beginning of
the month to make sure I could easily and
quickly get to the spot whenever the festival
started.
Into the valley
The rose valley is as exotic and enchanting
as it sounds. It is difficult to imagine a green,
lush valley covered in pink petals when
you first take the road to the valley from
Marrakech.
We were driving for hours and went
through four different seasons until we got
there. A breeze of fresh air in the foothills
of the Atlas, snow when we reached the
mountainous peak and desert, desert,
desert until the oasis showed itself.
A few kilometres before the entrance
to the village we were met by children
alongside the road, selling beautiful heart-
shaped rose garlands or a bouquet of rose
flowers. Our bus journey ended in the village
and from there we had to take a taxi to the
Dades Valley where we had our stay booked.
The Dades Canyon is sublime in itself, with
ancient red rocks, twisted meandering roads
and magnificent waterfalls in the Valley of
the Gorge.
We made ourselves comfortable as the
host of our guest house invited us for dinner
and live Berber music downstairs. They sure
know how to lead a foreigner straight into
the heart of their culture. The next day we
browsed through the village where the rose
festival was already in full bloom. Tribes from
the surrounding villages had gathered, all
dressed in traditional garments performing
their own unique rituals. Dances, sword
fights, music and songs filled the rose petal
covered street with life. We were enchanted
by the view as much as by the smell.The rose queen
The next day it was the big mission. We woke
up at dawn to drive to the heart of the valley
where the local women trek to collect the
wild growing roses. They have to be there
before the sun rises to be able to get the
juicy petals in their right composition. We
wanted to capture this process on film as
spontaneously as possible so we waited in
the rose bushes as you would to spot anom travel