[1] It is said to have been associated with Mohamed Laghdaf, a Saharan leader who fought the French and Spanish colonizers for decades, died in 1960, and was buried near Tan-Tan.

[1][2] The gathering was banned by the authorities in 1979 due to security concerns, but was revived again in 2004 with the help of UNESCO and the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism.

It is "an opportunity for tribes to socialize with song and dance, swap stories, share herbal remedy knowledge, compete in horse races and engage in some serious camel trading"[2] and "buy, sell and exchange foodstuffs and other products, organize camel and horse-breeding competitions, celebrate weddings.

"[1] Further, the festival includes "a range of cultural expressions such as musical performances, popular chanting, games, poetry contests and other Hassanie oral traditions.

"[1] This moussem also includes the fantasia, a choreographed reenactment of a cavalry charge by Berber tribesmen who raise their rifles to the air and issue a warcry.