A crowd gathered around a big tent in Djemaa el Fna, the square at the center of Marrakech. A storyteller in a long flowing black robe and a red fez, speaking Arabic and wildly gesticulating, had the audience in the palm of his hand—people laughed, sang along and repeated phrases. The scene was part of the second Marrakech International Storytelling Festival, held in February in the Moroccan city with a rich tradition of storytelling.
Eighty-seven storytellers from around the world took part in an eight-day event at 12 venues across the city’s old medina—the walled area filled with twisting alleyways and markets, selling spices, carpets, and other goods. The city is also home to some of the best restaurants in the world. And, for centuries, international storytellers.
“When we go to the establishment of the city of Marrakech a thousand years ago, the first thing that…
