The story
Festival National des Jeux Traditionnels in Korhogo
A government-backed showcase in Korhogo bringing together traditional games from across Cote d'Ivoire, including wrestling styles, board games like awale, foot races, and skill contests, as part of a stated push for social cohesion and cultural diversity. Regional teams travel in to compete, and the open-air matches turn the Senufo heartland town into a meeting point for game traditions that otherwise rarely share the same stage.
Korhogo, the cultural capital of Senufo country in northern Cote d'Ivoire, hosts the Festival National des Jeux Traditionnels as a government-backed showcase of the games communities across the country have played for generations, long before organized sport had a name.