Le Kef is, since ancient times, the main city of Upper Tell and the Tunisian northwest of which it is, until recently, the political, the most important religious center and the strong dominant position.Formerly called Colonia Iulia Nova Veneria Cirta Sicca , is the subject of discussion among historians as a potential location of the capital of Numidia mentioned by Sallust in his Bellum Jugurthum, the other assumption is the city of Constantine in Algeria.
In 688, the city experienced a first raid of the Arab armies.

In 1600, a first fort was built to house from 1637 a permanent garrison (oujaq); the device is completed by the fortified walls built by Ali Pasha to I 1739-174012. This does not preclude the taking and looting of the city by Algerians in 1756, nor the French military occupation from 1881. For the Bey's decree of July 8, 1884, Le Kef is municipal, one the first in the country.

In 1973, the city hosts a summit between the presidents of Tunisia Habib Bourguiba and Algerian Houari Boumedienne; it proposes the creation of a Tunisian-Algerian union Bourguiba declines by emphasizing the development of economic cooperation between the two countries.

The city of Kef is known for its rich cultural heritage and is distinguished in music and folk songs. It is in this context that the Bou Makhlouf Festival is organized every year in July, and Saliha Festival once every two years; it takes its name Saliha the singer from the region.

The Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions of Kef, housed in a mausoleum built in the eighteenth century, presents collections recounting the habits and social customs that course before the country's independence.

The festival of Mayou, also called Feast of borzgane, brings back the day keffois traditional couscous. Only the city continues that tradition in respect of a millennium ritual.

Headquarters of the National Centre of dramatic and scenic arts Kef, the city also organizes the festival "24 hours of non-stop theater."