Bucket list these cultural festivals

Travelling for festivals combines the usual appeal of a destination with the opportunity to experience social and cultural life at its most vibrant, making these cultural festivals a must-experience

1. Party in the Sahara Desert in Tunisia

The Douz festival started in 1910 as a horse race. It evolved into one of the biggest festivals in Tunisia and across the Sahara Desert, featuring music, art, camel and horse races, dancing - perhaps most importantly - the opportunity to get to know the Berber people who call Douz home. The festival is held over four days.

Catch it: Dates change, but it’s usually held in mid-December

Where: Douz

Getting there: Tours can be organised from Tunis, but you can also travel independently to Kebili, then to Douz. Tunisia is well-connected and public transport plentiful. We recommend getting in touch with Chiok, a Douz-based travel expert, for activities, tea and to meet a great resource for enriching your stay. He’s on +216 269 89949.

There’s more: While in Douz, experience shopping for leather shoes at the artisanal market, visit the Sahara Museum to know the desert as a home and enjoy fine dining dessert-style at Restaurant el Bey.

2. Experience African music in all its diversity at Sauti za Busara

Sauti za Busara is Kiswahili for sounds of wisdom. It’s a fitting name for the music and cultural festival that has become one of the most important cultural events in Tanzania and East Africa. Any given edition of Busara brings together more than 100 artists representing African music in all its diversity, from the smallest of local bands to icons and the hottest contemporary artists. Artists come from around Africa, making Busara the place to be if you want to discover bands from Morocco, Sudan, Somaliland, Reunion Island, Algeria, Ethiopia, Guinea - almost all African countries and the Diaspora have featured in the line-up. The Busara stages have hosted luminaries like Eric Wainaina, Thandiswa Mazwai, Nneka, Bassekou Kouyate, Sona Jobarteh, Salif Keita, Cesaria Evora and the legendary Bi Kidude.

Catch it: Every year in February. Africans can buy the discounted pan-African pass.

Pro tip: Zanzibar is an idyllic holiday destination brimming with activities. Meanwhile, cafes around Stonetown host festival afterparties. The biggest one is on the final day of the festival, usually held in Kendwa. Book a room in whatever hotel hosts the afterparty. The dance floor blazes with the hottest African pop music.

Where: Stonetown, Zanzibar

3. Party at the biggest festival in the Indian Ocean

Reunion Island is not the first place that comes to mind when you think of party destinations - but believe us when we say you are missing out. Every year in June, the island turns into the hottest place in Africa, thanks to the Safiko festival. It takes its name from the Creole phrase for “what’s needed”. The answer, of course, is the biggest festival in the Indian Ocean, with crowds of up to 40,000. The festival is celebrating its 18th anniversary this year and the line-up is an eclectic mix of sounds that range from pop, electro, reggae, and rock to the Island’s Séga and Maloya music. This year’s edition features Malian icon Oumou Sangare, Tiken Jah Fakoly, Bongeziwe Mabandla, Msaki, Lova Lova, Last Train and a slew of other performers known for their dazzling performances.

Catch it: 3 - 5 June 2022

Where: Saint-Pierre

Pro tip: Make this a travel moment by staying in Reunion for five to six days so you can explore its beaches, hiking trails and architecture and cuisine.

4. Party on the banks of the Niger River

Mali is one of the musical places in Africa, home to artists like Habib Koite, Oumou Sangare, Salif Keita, Amadou and Mariam, Rokia Traoré, Toumani Diabaté and Tinariwen, among a slew of other greats who have put the West African country on the world’s cultural map. Festival Sur le Niger celebrates the country’s extensive musical heritage over three days that feature live performances on the main stage and cafes about Segou and parades. Its setting on the banks of the Niger river makes for the perfect backdrop. The festival also features musicians from around West Africa.

Catch it: Every year in February

Where: Segou

Pro tip: It’s easy to party all night and sleep off the effects the next day, but you’ll be missing out on experiencing daytime activities and exploring Segou, one of the most historical places in Mali.

Getting there: Tours can be organised from Bamako, but you can also travel independently using a bus to Segou. Stay on the boat or in hotels around the festival site for the full experience.

Get up close and personal with the gods at the Voodoo festival.

Every year in January, the town of Ouidah in Benin turns into a Holy land, but only for a day when those who believe in Voodoo gather to offer thanks and praises to Mahe (as God is known) and the plethora of deities. The festival attracts spirits and the devout from around Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria. They dress up as the various gods whose personalities and characteristics they also take on. Expect elaborate costumes, fanfare, and a spectacle of note. The gods don’t mind showing off.

Catch it: 10th January every year.

Where: Ouidah

Sort it out: Attending the festival is as easy as arriving in Ouidah, which can be done independently. You can use a bus or taxi, rent a car or travel with a tour company.

There’s more: Ouidah is steeped in myth and legend. Experience them with visits to the Sacred Forest, where the town’s founder King Kpasse still lives as the Iroko tree he turned into when his time to leave the land of the living arrived. Ouidah’s also home to the temple of pythons, which you can visit and have close encounters with.

Pay tribute to the Sun God at the Abu Simbel Sun festival.

Ancient Egypt had its share of prominent dynasties and rulers. Ramesses II was the most powerful and influential of all rulers and dynasties. He still lingers in modern-day Egypt, thanks to the statues and monuments he built to honour himself. The two temples in Abu Simbel are his biggest vanity project. The biggest one is dedicated to himself, and the smaller but equally impressive temple honours Queen Nefertari - his favourite wife. Besides the towering statues and walls that are adorned with stories of his might, Ramesses’ temple was also built in a way that makes the sunlight shine over three statues, casting an almost mystical glow over them. However, this natural light show only happens twice a year - in February to mark the birth and in October for his coronation. Egyptians love a good celebration, with food featuring prominently.

Catch it: 22 February and 22 October

Where: Abu Simbel

Getting there: Tours can be organised from Cairo, Luxor and Aswan. You can also go to Abu Simbel by bus from Aswan and if you want a guide, hire them at the temple.

At the Gerewol Festival in Chad and Niger, Vanity and Beauty Take Centre Stage

Picture this - a group of men coming together from near and far to compete for the attention of women the best way that men in their tribe know how to; by looking drop-dead gorgeous. And when it comes to beauty, no one does it like the Wodaabe men. Tradition has been insisting on it for centuries. The tribe, found around the Sahel, is nomadic but gathers back at their villages at the end of the rainy season. This is also the mating season for men looking for wives, and only the most beautiful and charming men will get chosen. So, for a week, they adorn themselves with face paint to highlight fine bone structure. Lips are stained black, and eyes are accentuated to make them look bigger. They dress in their finest beads, leather, mirrors, feathers, and anything big, bold and bound to help them stand out. Festivities feature trance-like humming, swaying bodies that move in rhythm.

Catch it: There are no fixed dates; however, it coincides with the beginning of the dry season at the end of September.

Where: Niger and Chad.

Getting there: It’s advisable to experience the festival through an organised tour due to the remote areas where it’s typically held.

8. Dance with the Dearly Departed in Madagascar

In Madagascar, the dead don’t necessarily just rest in peace. They turn into spiritual anchors with one foot in the ancestral world and another on earth, which they emerge from their tombs to shake once every five or seven years. Welcome to Famadihana - part celebration, ritual, and keeper of familial oral histories. The star of the show? The exhumed bodies of a celebrating family’s dearly departed. It starts when an ancestral spirit appears to a senior family member, signalling that it’s time to ‘turn the bones’ by taking them out of the tomb. The bodies are then wrapped with fresh silk and taken on celebratory dance and parade around town.

Catch it: Every five to seven years between July and October, but it really comes down to timing and luck.

Where: Antananarivo, Fianarantsoa and places that are predominantly Malagasy.

Getting there: We recommend working through a tour company to manage your expectations - Famadihana only happens when the spirits dictate.