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Marrakech Popular Arts Festival

There is never a dull moment in this teeming city designed to inflict sensory overload, but during the summer Popular Arts Festival, Marrakech is more frenzied and alive than ever, the already-packed streets even more crowded with an abundance of tourists and Moroccans avid for fun. Artists, craftsmen, vendors, musicians, acrobats, fire-swallowers and dancers hold performances in every corner of the city, with the centre of the action at the ruined 16th-century Badi Palace, once the heart of the powerful Saadian Dynasty. One of the most popular features is the 'fantasia', a choreographed trick horse-riding spectacle held each evening in a field near the Bab Jdid just outside the city walls. For more information contact the Morocco Tourist Office on +212 (0)37 681 531/532/533 or admin@tourism-in-morocco.com

Venue: Various, but mainly Badi Palace and Djemma el Fna; Date: 2-7 July 2007

Sand Marathon

The week-long Sand Marathon takes place in the gruelling conditions of Moroccan desert with sandstorms and brain-frying heat as the major obstacles to achieving such an intense feat. The race is over 150 miles of craggy, sandswept terrain and competitors from around the world partake in the charity-driven event that benefits the infrastructure of the region. Only the fittest and most prepared are advised to partake!

Venue: Ouarzazate; Date: 27 March to 7 April 2008; Website: www.darbaroud.com