The festival brings intellectuals and artists from all over the world organizing sessions for reflection such as meetings, seminars, and workshops.

It was initiated by Mohamed BenIssa and Mohamed Melehi in 1978, inviting 11 Moroccan artists to paint murals in the streets of the Assilah. It began as a small event and as it grew, locals began competing to paint their doors in different shades of blue and some green and galleries started lining the town's narrow streets.The moussem's initial name was "The Assilah Festival". It is organized by the Assilah Forum Foundation, a change from the initial "Almouhit Association". Organizers used to look for participants to enliven and take part in the event, but all that is changed today as there is a great demand from intellectuals and artists to participate, and attendance grew from 1700 to 35000 spectators, according to its chairman, Mohamed BenIssa.

The initial slogan launched for the festival was "culture and art for development" and BenIssa, who was Morocco's Foreign Minister told the Moroccan daily Al Masaa, whilst there is sports diplomacy and press diplomacy, there is also cultural diplomacy. Mr. Salem Himmich, intellectual and minister of culture, has gone further saying at this year's event that culture is not a luxury but a right.
National and international participating artists turn the white city into an open workshop for painters. They demonstrate their artistic talents through their paintings on the medina's walls.

In the beginning, according to Mr Ben Issa, people made a mockery of the festival and the city; even some press articles claimed that behind the painted walls there were hungry people, but as one can see the city became developed while retaining its identity and beautiful landmarks.

Two years ago organizers decided to invite a friendly country each year as guest of honour. This year's guest was Portugal.

Assilah has Portuguese remains in its architecture. The famous rampart ruins built in the XVth Century are partially overlooking the ocean and the town's Elkarma tower, a fascinating edifice that housed a library and the main gateway to the medina.

The Portuguese invaded the coastal town in 1471 with an armada of ships and 30,000 soldiers. The Spanish later clashed with the Portuguese and controlled the city until the Saadien Sultan Ahmed El Mansour reclaimed it in 1589. But because of its strategic location there was fierce squabbling and the Spanish regain control the city. The Alawite Sultan Moulay Ismail freed the city in 1691 and no foreign power existed until 1829 when the Austrian army briefly took control of the it before the Spanish took it back and extended their control during their protectorate until 1956 when the Kingdom became independent.

The cultural foundation has worked hard to upgrade the city"s image through high profile intellectuals and artists. BenIssa emphasizes that the festival is also an opportunity to remove barriers that are sometimes the result of misunderstandings among nations. It is not an event just for the elite, it is rather for everyone. Assilah is the first Moroccan city to welcome artists who create their own art in the streets.

In this year's program, there was the 24th session of the Summer University AlMouatamid Ibn Abbad., a rich program that included seminars with different thematic subjects such as "The Afro-araboibero-Latin American Cooperation:Governments and Civil Societies", "The Alliance of Civilizations in the East African Ibero-Latin American Scene", "Portugal and Africa", "Arab Women in the World of Arab Media", "The UN Reforms and the South-South Cooperation", "The Cultural Dimension of the Union of the Mideterranean: Maghreb and Europe", "The Elite, Authority, and Democracy in the Arab World", "The Media in Horizon of the 21st Century", "Political Cinema and TV in the Arab World", and "Globalization and Development :the Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on Aid to African Nations"

In addition to the summer university there were Art studios, Workshops for children, Exhibitions, Mural paintings, Songs and voices of Assilah, Music concerts, songs, dance, and the Portuguese Cultural Days.