Kelaat M'Gouna Rose Festival

A perfume rose at the foot of the High Atlas

Kelaat M'Gouna is a small town on the road of the kasbahs, between Skoura and Boumalne Dades, where the M'Goun valley opens out. Its farmers grow the Damask rose (Rosa damascena), a perfume rose used for rose water, essential oils and cosmetics. The bushes flower in April and May.

The rose supports much of the valley. According to the ORMVA of Ouarzazate (the regional agricultural development office, a public body), average output is about 3,700 tonnes of flowers a year, grown by some 6,000 farmers in seven rural districts of Kelaat M'Gouna and the Dades; the forecast for 2026 was 5,000 tonnes. The town's House of the Perfume Rose combines a rose museum, a laboratory and an exhibition hall.

The fair and the rose carnival

The International Perfume Rose Fair is organised by Morocco's Ministry of Agriculture with the province of Tinghir. It is held every year during the flowering season, over four days: 5 to 8 May in 2025 for the 60th edition, 7 to 10 May in 2026 for the 61st. The 2027 dates are not yet published.

The fair has two sides.

• A trade fair. Cooperatives, growers and institutions run stands, with exhibition areas and professional meetings. Visitors can buy rose water, essential oils, cosmetics and local produce straight from the cooperatives.
• A popular festival. The election of Miss Rose, chosen among young women from the province of Tinghir, opens the festivities; the jury also judges her knowledge of growing, picking and distilling roses. In the evenings, Amazigh, Gnaoua and Hassani troupes perform. On Saturday, the rose carnival parades along Avenue Mohammed V: floats covered in thousands of roses, folk troupes, bands, traditional costume, and work by local craftspeople and painters.

For travellers passing through, carnival Saturday is the day to aim for.

Planning the stop

Kelaat M'Gouna lies on the classic route between Marrakech and the desert. In Sabaro's "Marrakech, Dades Valley and Merzouga in 8 days" itinerary, the leg from Skoura to Boumalne Dades runs through the town, leaving time for half a day at the fair, a walk along the rose hedges and some shopping at the cooperatives.

• Where to stay. The three houses in Sabaro's selection are further along the same road, in the Dades Gorges above Boumalne: Dar Rihana, a six-room guesthouse with a pool in Ait Ouffi; Dar Jnan Tiouira, an eleven-room kasbah run by the family of a mountain guide; and Eden Boutique Hotel, eighteen suites in Tamellalt with two pools. Back towards Ouarzazate, Dar Ahlam in the Skoura palm grove is the other base.
• Booking. The fair fills the valley's guesthouses. Sabaro recommends booking as soon as the dates are announced, or building the trip around late April and early May, when the fair takes place.
• Weather. In Ouarzazate, the nearest weather station, the average high in May is 30.7 °C and the average low 15.7 °C, according to the 1991-2020 normals of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Days are hot and evenings cool, especially in the gorges: bring a hat for the parade and a warm layer for the evening.

What to combine with the roses

• The Dades and Todgha Gorges, about fifty kilometres apart: the first is explored by its winding road, the second on foot.
• Trekking in the M'Goun, a High Atlas massif, over several days with muleteers, starting from the Dades Gorges.
• Merzouga and Erg Chebbi, via Tinghir and Errachidia, to end the trip in the dunes.