Talking Timbuktu: At Mali’s Legendary Festival of the Desert, Peace Doesn’t Just Talk, It Sings, Drums and Dances, Too

Brattleboro, VT, November 05, 2009 --(PR.com)-- While Obama’s opponents argue Oslo prematurely handed him the Nobel Prize and the U.S. State Department is abuzz about the resurgent peace process in Sudan, international music lovers will soon converge in the dunes of the Sahara Desert to celebrate the inspiring and enduring peace between the Malian government and the Tuareg rebel group.

In 1996, the Festival in the Desert as we know it was inaugurated to allow the Tuareg communities to share their cultures with the multitude of other ethnic groups in Mali and to rejoice over the newly found peace. Today, the Festival in the Desert showcases the cultural richness of all the country’s diverse ethnic groups. Only at the Festival in the Desert, one can enjoy an epic line-up of Mali’s musical all-stars, such as Ali Farka Touré and Oumou Sangaré on the same stage. The Festival has transcended borders as musicians from all over the world perform during the three-day-long event. No one can better grasp the uniqueness of this cultural event better than Robert Plant from former rock band Led Zeppelin, who said, referring to Festival in the Desert:

“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 Festival in the Desert, held in the desert oasis of Essakane just outside legendary Timbuktu, carries on a Tuareg tradition during which various tribal communities would gather for a few days to exchange ideas, make political decisions, and get to know one another’s culture. The meetings were accompanied by music, dancing, poems, and games, such as sword fights and camel racing. This ancient tradition certainly serves as a model of the dialogue-based, multilateral approach to peace building and cultural respect world leaders aspire to, yet too often fail to reach, in our modern times.

Upon arrival in Essakane, just two hours from Timbuktu, you will find the immense sand dunes of the Sahara Desert bustling with life and energy. The festival follows the same exciting format since its beginning, with camel rides, arts market, and other cultural and folkloric events during the day and ten musical acts a night for three nights. With legends like Salif Keita, Robert Plant, and Habib Koité waiting to get on stage, encores are out of the question in the non-stop line up that provides something for every musical palette.

If you’d like to cross a trip to legendary Timbuktu off your bucket list and relish the music and cultural abundance of Mali, this must-see festival is a golden chance. The warm and welcoming people of Timbuktu are proudly waiting to share and show off the beauty behind the mysterious legend of their homeland. Sire A. Diallo, a Malian native, music aficionado, and co-founder of Maliba Tours, a social enterprise dedicated to providing culturally and environmentally responsible tours of his beloved home, recommends traveling with a trusted operator that knows the language, culture, and country well and can help maximize your immersion, understanding, safety, and fun. This year’s Festival in the Desert will be held January 7, 8, and 9. In case this is too short a notice, beware that Festival on the Niger another must-see of Mali’s yearly cultural events is held one month later from February 4 to the 6 in Ségou. For more festival information, contact Mr. Diallo at 802-275-8205 or info@malibatours.com, or visit www.malibatours.com.

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