Before coming to Morocco we checked for festivals that may be of interest, apart from the Berber one where the women get to choose their husband, non were apparent. We should have cross checked with Muslim ones.
When we arrived at the (open all year) campsite on the outskirts of Essaouria we were confronted by a barrier. A man appeared from the site pushing a bike and announced to us that the site was shut for four days. He answered our quizzical looks as he jumped on the bike and rode away "for the festival, the festival of meat, it will be lovely ".
Ah. The feast of Eid al-Adha, at the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. The slaughter of sheep and goats to honour Abraham and the near sacrifice of his son at God's command.
Every where we looked there were sheep or goats being delivered in small trucks trikes and taxis. One taxi pulled up on a roundabout outside our hotel, the passengers got out and then a live sheep was dragged out of the boot.
At night, interspersed with the usual chirping of crickets and cicadas was the bleating of the sheep and goats.
Apart from that a nice stopover in a small city with a UNESCO world heritage site for a Medina.
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