This year the Festival au Désert is in partnership with the Festival Ali Farka Touré that will be held in Niafunké from 5 to 8 of January.

Launch Party

On Saturday, December 3 took place as scheduled the launch party of the Festival. This is the traditional meeting announcement that provides an overview of the next edition of Festival in the Desert.

The Festival wanted to dedicate this evening to the innocent victims of this tragedy who is occurring in the northern Mali and in the whole Sahel-Saharan region of Africa. Here is the speech that was given during the evening with a few photos of the event.

Her Excellency Madam Prime Minister,
Ministers,
Presidents of Institutions of the Republic,
Honourable members,
Excellencies Ambassadors and diplomatic representatives in Mali
Distinguished guests, partners and friends of the Festival in the Desert.

We would ask you to please observe with us a minute of silence in memory of the innocent victims of this tragedy who is occuring north of our country and throughout the whole Sahel-Saharan region of Africa.

THANK YOU!

Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are delighted to have you here again this evening for the traditional launch party that announces and gives an overview of the next edition of the Festival in the Desert.

The special place of this event in the cultural agenda of Mali and its influence on the international level are well known.

I'm pretty sure that the questions many of you are having tonight are rather:

• The next edition of the Festival in the Desert, given the current security situation, will take place as planned?
• If Yes! how the organizers and sponsors will make it runs in good conditions?

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Should we remind you that even before cultural promotion, the main foundation of this festival is to fight intolerance, to bring people together, regardless of origin and religious beliefs?

This is why, over the past 10 years, we have celebrated peace through music on the dunes of Essakane with the furthest people on earth. Indians from the desert of Arizona; Indians from the desert of Rajasthan in India; Kanak from New Caledonia and the Inuit from the North Pole. All of them were all amazed at the hospitality and friendship they received from the people of Mali.

We are far to minimize the risks, even less to ignore them, however:

Do we have the right to yield to these criminals who, beyond the heinous crimes they commit, want to undermine the very foundations of social cohesion and hospitality that made for more than thousand years the reputation of Timbuktu and its inhabitants?
Can we close our ears to the calls of the people of this region, which even tonight are whispering: "Please, do not abandon the festival. It now remains our last hope! "

Dear partners and friends in Mali
We invited you tonight to tell you that with the support and encouragement of our highest authorities we decided to go ahead with the organization of the festival. This festival must continue to support more than ever the values ​​of sharing, peace and multiculturalism.

We believe that it is because you share those values ​​with us that you are here tonight and we really appreciate it. Therefore, and in addition to your support, it's your understanding that we value most.

On our side, too, we understand those who are reluctant to come or who will have to cancel their participation even if it hurts us. Special mention for those, still many, who write to us and said, "if you do, we will support you". They are neither fools nor unconscious but manifest their adherence to the values ​​and commitment of the actors of the festival.

And now, for pushing ahead the hope, we will tonight revive the beautiful pictures of the edition of January and with our artists we'll also give you a taste of the next edition of the Festival in the Desert.

I can not end without thanking first and foremost, the Government of the Republic of Mali, diplomatic cooperation, partners, people, sponsors, friends of the festival throughout the world who have believed and promoted with us all these years for, cultural diversity and hospitality of Mali through this festival.

Have a good evening!

Some pictures about the event...

Created in January 2001, the Festival Au Desert is held every year in the North of Mali, usually in Essakane, two hours from Timbuktu; sometimes directly at Timbuktu. It is organized by AITMA and EFES Associations together with Essakane Production. This festival seeks its origin in the big traditional Touareg festivities, as Takoubelt in Kidal and Temakannit in Timbuktu, which represented for a long time a place for decision making and exchange of information among the different communities. At the beginning, there were songs and touareg dances, poetries, camel rides and games.

Today, the Festival is opened to the external world and welcomes artists from other Malian regions, other African countries, but also from Europe and the rest of the world. During three days, around 30 artistic groups are invited from all around the world to present their art. "It's one of the few honest things I have been part of in a long, long time. It's amazing to play out in the sand. There are no doors, no gates and no money. It reminded me of why I sang in the first place. It's not commercialized." Robert Plant (Rolling Stone/March 6, 2003)

The Touaregs, nomads from the south of the Sahara, have a longstanding tradition of coming together for annual meetings called Takoubelt in the Kidal region or Temakannit in the Timbuktu region. These meetings allowed 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 were facing at the moment. These encounters are what “Le Festival au Désert” is built upon. “Le Festival au Désert”, in its present form was born in January 2001, at the dawn of the third millennium, following a meeting between Touaregs from Mali and European musicians.

The organization of the Festival, with its focus on combining modernity and tradition, is driven by a strong desire to open its doors to the outside world, while still preserving the cultures and traditions of the desert; for some this signifies being listened to and then recognized, for others it is a way to discover the desert through the inhabitants’ values of hospitality and tolerance. In the beginning, the Festival was nomadic in its nature: the first Festival took place in Tin Essako in 2001 and then it moved to Tessalit in 2002 in the Kidal region (North-East Mali). However, after the 3rd year in 2003, when the Festival was held in Essakane close to Timbuktu, the organizers had to start envisioning a fixed location for the Festival in light of the enormous preparation required and the ever-growing public interest and attendants. It’s in this way that we decided to make Essakane the permanent site of the Festival in order to begin building durable installations that could be used in the context of tourism promotion.

“Le Festival au Désert” is also a way to celebrate “La Flamme de la Paix” (The Flame of Peace), a name that was given to the ceremony where more than 3000 firearms were burned (and transformed into a monument) in 1996 in Timbuktu, putting a solemn end to the rebellion that, for years, shrouded northern Mali in gloom. Until today, this act still constitutes an example of how to manage conflicts, a model that ignites inspiration throughout the world. The major position that culture has taken in occidental economies prefigures the position that culture will have in the southern economies in a few years. Thus, “Le Festival au Désert” would like to become a factor in job creation in the near region, thereby promoting local development as well as bringing together the people of the earth.