The Festival au désert (Festival in the Desert) is an annual concert in Mali, showcasing traditional Tuareg music as well as music from around the world. From 2001 until 2009 the festival was held in Essakane but because of security issues, from 2010 the festival has been held on the outskirts of Timbuktu.[1][2]
The Tuareg band Tinariwen first garnered international attention with their performance at the 2001 Festival.
A French language documentary entitled Le Festival au Désert was filmed at the 2003 festival. Performers include Tartit, Oumou Sangaré, Lo'Jo, Tinariwen, Robert Plant with Justin Adams, Blackfire, Django, and Ali Farka Touré. The DVD contains English subtitles, and an audio CD of the concert, Festival in the Desert, was also released.