The story
Festival Essakane in Essakane
Essakane refers to the dunes near Timbuktu that served as the original desert venue for Festival au Desert, the celebrated Tuareg music festival, drawing nomads and international visitors for camel processions, traditional Tuareg music and camping under the stars. The Essakane site has not hosted the festival since the event's suspension amid the northern Mali security crisis that began in 2012.
Before it became internationally known through the branded Festival au Desert, Essakane was simply a place, a stretch of Saharan dunes a considerable distance from Timbuktu, reachable by camel or sturdy four-wheel-drive vehicles, where Tuareg communities held seasonal gatherings.