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: 1 - 9 July 2011

Website: www.marrakechfestival.com