Festival Au Desert

Month : Jannuary
Place : Essakan, Mali
Famous For : Desert Festival
Attractions : Tuareg music, Touareg dances, Poetry Readings, Camel Rides, Games .

The Festival Au Desert is a famous desert festival held in annually in the country of Mali. Since its start in Jannuary 2001, this festival is celebrated every year in Essakane, two hours from Timbouctou in Mali. The Festival Au Desert is a grand showcase of traditional Tuareg music as well as music from around the world. The main highlight of it's first edition in 2001 was the Tuareg band 'Tinariwen' which first garnered international attention with their performance at this festival.

Major Attractions
The annual concert of Festival Au Desert seeks its origin in the big traditional Touareg festivities, such as Takoubelt in Kidal and Temakannit in Tombouctou - a chance for communication between the widely spread communities of the desert. The main inclusions of this festivity are songs and Touareg dances, poetry readings, camel rides, games etc. Nowadays, artists from other Malian regions and African countries, as well as from Europe and America take great interest to participate in Festival Au Desert at Mali. This desert festival has provided an invaluable opportunity for the nomadic Tamasheks to meet and celebrate with various forms of Tamashek song, dance, poetry, ritual sword fighting, games, and other ancient cultural traditions. The Festival Au Desert brings together the entire desert region, to the whole of Mali, and eventually to the world.

Official Website : http://www.festival-au-desert.org/