The story
Bianou Festival of Agadez in Agadez
Bianou is a centuries-old religious festival of the Azbinawa people of Agadez, held roughly 30 days after Tabaski and lasting about 23 days, tied to Achoura at the start of the Islamic calendar. Warriors parade in traditional dress with spears and leather-trimmed canes, riders on decorated horses wear accordion-shaped scarves, and the imzad, the Tuareg's single-stringed fiddle, sounds through the desert city.
Roughly thirty days after Tabaski each year, the desert city of Agadez turns its attention to Bianou, a religious and traditional festival that has been celebrated for centuries by the Azbinawa, the Tuareg-descended people of the Agadez and Air region, and has since spread to Arlit and the wider sub-region.