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Festival au Désert
The Festival au désert (Festival in the Desert) was an annual concert in Mali, showcasing traditional Tuareg music as well as music from around the world between 2001 and 2012. It was founded and directed by Manny Ansar, and attracted thousands of visitors, bringing a huge boost to the economy.
The first festival took place in 2001 in Tin Essako, then in Tessalit in 2002, and in Essakane from 2003 to 2009. From 2010 to 2012 it was held on the outskirts of Timbuktu. After an incursion of Timbuktu by Islamist militants in 2012, the festival was postponed, and has not been held since then since then due to security concerns.
Several film documentaries have been made about or at the festival: Le Festival au Désert (2004), Dambé: The Mali Project (2008), The Last Song Before the War (2013), and Woodstock in Timbuktu (2013). The album Festival au Desert Live from Timbuktu (2013) has performances from the 2012 festival.
From 2013, a collaborative venture known "Caravane culturelle de la paix" has toured various countries. This was created by Ansar along with the directors of two other festivals, the Malian Festival sur le Niger, and the Moroccan Festival Taragalte.
The first festival took place in Tin Essako in January 2001, an initiative created by Manny Ansar, manager of Tuareg band Tinariwen, who played at the festival, along with the band Lo'Jo, who co-organised the festival. Around 500 to 600 people attended that first festival. The Festival au Désert was the first such festival in North Africa. It claimed (in what ethnomusicologist Marta Amico suggested were paternalistic terms, promoting tourism in an impoverished region) that it continued a long tradition of traditional Tuareg feasts that promoted musical and social exchange. This tradition, known as the Takoubelt in Kidal and Temakannit in Timbuktu, was an annual meeting of Tuareg tribes of the region, where they played and shared music as well as discussing problems and resolving conflicts. However the Festival au Désert aimed to bridge the gap between tradition and modernity, and to broaden understanding of local customs among the international community.
In 2002 the festival was held in Tessalit, in the Kidal region of North-Eastern Mali. From 2003 until 2009 the festival was held in Essakane, 65 km (40 mi) from Timbuktu, but because of security issues, from 2010 the festival was held on the outskirts of Timbuktu.
After two years of being held in Kidal, Ansar approached Ali Farka Touré, who was very supportive of having the festival run in Timbuktu. He said that he had always wanted to bring people home, but did not know how to do that, and that now that this festival had been organised, he would support it; he would be their "godfather". He started performing at the festival, bringing in a lot of his fans, more visitors, tourists, and journalists. He performed the closing concert every year from 2003 until 2006 (he died later that year).
After three years, the festival had grown to attract an audience of over 5,000, with more than 50 journalists. The festival had been reported in the overseas press, and big name musicians such as Robert Plant and Bono (of U2 fame) became interested. Several offered to play for free.
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Festival au Désert
The Festival au désert (Festival in the Desert) was an annual concert in Mali, showcasing traditional Tuareg music as well as music from around the world between 2001 and 2012. It was founded and directed by Manny Ansar, and attracted thousands of visitors, bringing a huge boost to the economy.
The first festival took place in 2001 in Tin Essako, then in Tessalit in 2002, and in Essakane from 2003 to 2009. From 2010 to 2012 it was held on the outskirts of Timbuktu. After an incursion of Timbuktu by Islamist militants in 2012, the festival was postponed, and has not been held since then since then due to security concerns.
Several film documentaries have been made about or at the festival: Le Festival au Désert (2004), Dambé: The Mali Project (2008), The Last Song Before the War (2013), and Woodstock in Timbuktu (2013). The album Festival au Desert Live from Timbuktu (2013) has performances from the 2012 festival.
From 2013, a collaborative venture known "Caravane culturelle de la paix" has toured various countries. This was created by Ansar along with the directors of two other festivals, the Malian Festival sur le Niger, and the Moroccan Festival Taragalte.
The first festival took place in Tin Essako in January 2001, an initiative created by Manny Ansar, manager of Tuareg band Tinariwen, who played at the festival, along with the band Lo'Jo, who co-organised the festival. Around 500 to 600 people attended that first festival. The Festival au Désert was the first such festival in North Africa. It claimed (in what ethnomusicologist Marta Amico suggested were paternalistic terms, promoting tourism in an impoverished region) that it continued a long tradition of traditional Tuareg feasts that promoted musical and social exchange. This tradition, known as the Takoubelt in Kidal and Temakannit in Timbuktu, was an annual meeting of Tuareg tribes of the region, where they played and shared music as well as discussing problems and resolving conflicts. However the Festival au Désert aimed to bridge the gap between tradition and modernity, and to broaden understanding of local customs among the international community.
In 2002 the festival was held in Tessalit, in the Kidal region of North-Eastern Mali. From 2003 until 2009 the festival was held in Essakane, 65 km (40 mi) from Timbuktu, but because of security issues, from 2010 the festival was held on the outskirts of Timbuktu.
After two years of being held in Kidal, Ansar approached Ali Farka Touré, who was very supportive of having the festival run in Timbuktu. He said that he had always wanted to bring people home, but did not know how to do that, and that now that this festival had been organised, he would support it; he would be their "godfather". He started performing at the festival, bringing in a lot of his fans, more visitors, tourists, and journalists. He performed the closing concert every year from 2003 until 2006 (he died later that year).
After three years, the festival had grown to attract an audience of over 5,000, with more than 50 journalists. The festival had been reported in the overseas press, and big name musicians such as Robert Plant and Bono (of U2 fame) became interested. Several offered to play for free.