Discover Mhamid: Palm Grove, Souk and Nomad Festival

A 16-kilometre-long palm grove, a Monday souk and an annual Nomad Festival offer different reasons to visit Mhamid. The town combines a landscape along the Drâa with regional products, a recurring market day and an annual cultural event. For your planning, it is worth distinguishing these attractions according to their own rhythms: the palm grove shapes the landscape, the souk takes place on Mondays, and the festival is held once a year.

The palm grove and the Drâa as a landscape setting

M’hamid El Ghizlane lies sheltered within a palm grove that stretches for 16 km along the Drâa River. This specific extent gives the landscape a clear scale: the palm grove is a defining part of the town and runs alongside the river. In Mhamid, the landscape itself is therefore a focus for your trip, alongside the individual cultural offerings. If you are looking for a holiday rental, you can first consider whether you would like to centre your stay on this landscape, a market day or an event date. These options raise different planning questions, but are not mutually exclusive.

Mhamid’s souk on Mondays

The souk in M’hamid takes place on Mondays in the town centre and offers regional products. The regular day of the week is a useful planning reference: if you want to include the market, take Monday into account when choosing your travel dates. The regional products give the visit its own focus, while the town-centre location identifies where the market is held. Unlike the festival, which takes place once a year, the souk is tied to a day of the week. When planning your trip, you can therefore distinguish between a regular market day and a special annual occasion.

The Nomad Festival: an annual occasion

The Festival International des Nomades takes place once a year in M’hamid El Ghizlane, 90 km south of Zagora in Morocco’s Drâa Valley. The individual editions and their dates may vary. If the festival is the main reason for your trip, plan around the date of the relevant edition rather than assuming it falls on a fixed calendar date. At the 2026 edition, some activities take place in the town centre; you do not need to book accommodation to attend this part. This information applies to the activities of the 2026 edition. When choosing a holiday rental, the main question is whether you want to plan your stay around the festival or whether the weekly souk and the landscape are your priorities.

Kasbah el Allouj in the oasis

A ruined ksar known as Kasbah el Allouj is located in the oasis of M’hamid. This named structure adds another cultural point of interest to the recurring souk and festival dates. While the market and festival are described in terms of their respective schedules, Kasbah el Allouj is part of the oasis’s built heritage. Together, these themes show different sides of Mhamid: the long landscape along the Drâa, regional products on Mondays, the annual festival and a named structure in the oasis. You can use them to guide your travel planning according to which of these aspects interests you most.

Choose your travel dates and holiday rental according to your priorities

When looking for a holiday rental in Mhamid, it helps to decide first what you are travelling for. For the souk, Monday is the practical point of reference; for the festival, the date of the relevant edition matters. If the landscape is your main interest, the 16 km-long palm grove along the Drâa is central to your decision. These differences mainly affect your travel dates and the itinerary you have in mind. You do not need to rank the experiences: the souk, festival, palm grove and ksar appeal to different interests.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Tagounite, El-Kelâa M´gouna, Id Taleb, Sidi-Bibi, Tigherte, Mirhleft, Ouled Jellal, Oualhourri.

For the main travel overview: Souss-Massa-Draa.