The cherry festival of Sefrou was started in 1920, and is attended by, locals, Moroccans from other cities and foreigners alike. The celebrations take place yearly in June, over three days, at the end of the harvest period.[16] The festival involves the choosing of a Miss Beauty, and used to be a symbol of religious co-existence, due to the participation of Muslim, Jewish and Christian girls. After the Moroccan independence from France, the French population left, soon followed by the Moroccan Jewish community, and the participants now are exclusively from the local Muslim population.[18]