Sahara celebrates desert cultures at Chad festival

In the heart of the Sahara, where the routes to Sudan and Libya cross, the Chadian city of Amdjarass has been transformed this week into an open-air celebration of desert culture.

Until Friday, Amdjarass hosts dance troupes, musicians, traditional storytellers, craftspeople, cooks and nomadic camel drivers from across the vast region.

Niger, the guest of honour at the sixth Amdjarass International Festival of Saharan Cultures (FICSA), hailed the event as a way to foster peace in a region beset by conflict and climate change.

"In a world rife with tensions, crises and misunderstandings, culture remains a space for encounter and dialogue, enabling us to understand and respect each other and build together," Niger's crafts and tourism minister Aghaichata Guichene Atta told the opening ceremony on Saturday.

"Our countries have everything to gain by joining forces to make culture a tool for peace, development and employment," she said, to cheers from the crowd.

Atta highlighted the role of Saharan women in keeping desert cultures alive down the centuries.

This year's festival celebrates desert cultures from Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad. By Joris Bolomey (AFP)

In a shapeshifting region where traditions are seldom archived on paper, the women "carry the living memory of Saharan societies through their songs, their stories, their hands that weave, shape, cook and educate."

Amdjarass, which is home to several nomadic peoples, is located in far northeast of Chad, a vast, sparsely populated region renowned for its dramatic rock formations and desert landscapes.

The once dusty village, now a grid-shaped city, derives its name from "djarass", the Arabic word for bell, in reference to a strange white rock that rings in the wind and was once used to warn locals of raids by rival tribes.

Spark interest in the desert

Local Issak Bassam, 27, said he was delighted the festival had returned to his hometown after a break of seven years due to the covid pandemic, the change of president in 2021 and organisational problems.

"I haven't got the money to travel so this festival is a way for me to meet people from different horizons and celebrate Saharan culture in all its diversity," he told AFP.

Amdjarass was the stronghold of late president Idriss Deby Itno, who hailed from the area and ruled Chad for 30 years until he was killed during clashes with rebels and his son was handed the reins of power.

'Women carry the living memory of Saharan societies through their songs,' says Niger tourism and crafts minister Aghaichata Guichene Atta. By Joris Bolomey (AFP)

For current Prime Minister Allah Maye Halina and festival founder Issouf Elli Moussami, FICSA is not just an excuse for a week-long outdoor party.

It is also a lever for encouraging tourism into an area far off the beaten track.

Chadian dancers performed at the Amdjarass International Festival of Saharan Cultures (FICSA). By Joris Bolomey (AFP)

Guitarist Omar "Bombino" Moctar from Niger, who played his blend of Tuareg blues-rock to a crowd gathered under the desert stars, said he hoped the festival would spark the world's interest in a region about which it knows little.

"Through my music, I want to share happiness with all the peoples of the desert, bring them together and explain to the whole world the dangers we face," he said.