Jemaa el-Fnaa

This guide to Jemaa el-Fnaa in Marrakesh follows the halaiqui, the square's professional storytellers, a craft over a thousand years old that once filled the plaza with a dozen or more circles of listeners each night. You'll meet two of its most famous names, Saruh and Bakchich, and hear how loudspeakers, television and rising rents pushed the tradition toward disappearing. Listen for the small ring of silence amid the noise — that is where one is still holding on.