Ahellil is a poetic and musical genre emblematic of the Zenete population of Gourara, a region in southwest Algeria. Specific to the Berber-speaking part of Gourara, the Ahellil is a secular celebration regularly rendered at religious festivities, pilgrimages, weddings and community events. It's deeply linked to the Zenete way of life and its oasis agriculture. It symoolizes the unity of the community living in a harsh environment, transmitting the values and the history of the Zenete people, in a language that is risking of disappearing. This tradition is threatened due to the dwindling number of occasions on which it is performed. This decline is linked to the rarity of traditional festivities. The migration of young people to the cities and the prevailing preference to listen to widely available Ahellil recordings rather than actively participating in live performances. Performance consists of a series of chants in an order decided by the instrumentalist or singer, following an age-old pattern. A chorus of up to a hundred people stands shoulder to shoulder in a circle, slowly moving around a singer in the centre and clapping their hands, while a bengri (flute) player performs the genre. The first part, the lemserreh, includes everyone and encompasses short, well-known chants that are sung late into the night. The second, the aougrout, concerns only the experienced performers who continue until dawn. The tra finishes with daybreak and involves only the most accomplished performers. This threefold structure is also reflected in the chant performance, which begins with a prelude by the instrumentalist, followed by the chorus picking up certain verses, and ending with it chanting in whisper and slowly building up into a powerful, harmonious whole. UNESCO page: [1]