Festival in the Desert or Festival au Désert as it is officially named is a special place. Situated in plain desert between the magic sand dunes of Sahara desert near the little village of Essakane on the outskirts of mythical Timbuktu, Mali it offers three days and nights of musical extravaganza. With over 35 musical groups performing in one of the greatest cultural events it also prides itself as probably the most remote music festival in the world. It all started in 2001 in the aftermath of popular Tuareg uprising. Following symbolical burning of more than 3000 firearms in a ceremony known as La Flamme de la Paix (The Flame of Peace) in 1996 in Timbuktu the festival was meant to serve as a bridge between the Tuaregs and the rest of Malian population. Meanwhile it has evolved into the most prominent music festival in a country which is renowned for its music and musicians.
Traditionally nomadic Tuareg clans have held desert gatherings for centuries to listen to each other’s music, feast, race camels and more. Such meetings are called Takoubelt in the Kidal region or Temakannit in the Timbuktu region. They allow them to reconnect with each other (after the nomadic season), have fun, resolve conflicts between individuals or groups and to exchange ideas about the challenges that they are facing at the moment. These encounters are what Festival au Désert is built upon.
In 2001 the Festival au Désert also served as call to worldwide fame for local Tuareg group Tinariwen. In those short 9 years of existence it was graced with performances from many great musicians including Robert Plant, Manu Chao, Blackfire, Artcirq, Dirt Music, Lo’Jo, Ali Farka Touré, Oumou Sangaré, Afel Bocum, Habib Koité, Vieux Farka Touré, Khaira Arby, Bassekou Kouyaté, Toumani Diabaté, Baba Salah, Tartit, Noura Mint Seymali, Salif Keita and many many others.
It is a place where you can enjoy the music while lying on the sand dune just opposite the main stage gazing at the stars on the crystal clear sky or you can dance your way into front rows for the dance with the locals you will never forget. And once the official program ends around 2 or 3 o’clock you hit it off with the rest of the festival-goers and performers behind that dune for the most unbelievable after party. Sited around the camp fire the instruments come out again and members of Tinariwen and Tartit groups join up with the rest of the musicians – Malians and foreigners – to reproduce the feeling of famed Temakannit gatherings from the past. Encircled by Tuaregs, Malians and tourists they are the best showing how far the idea of reuniting a nation via a music festival has come. It is nicely summoned up by the quote from Abdoulah, Tinariwen’s lead singer: Guitars are our weapons of choice…
You can find more about Festival au D̩sert at the official site Рhttp://www.festival-au-desert.org. For more pictures please visit http://www.markopreslenkov.com.
