World Music Festival - Festival au Desert-Caravan for Peace

World Music Festival > Festival au Desert-Caravan for Peace

Festival au Desert began in 2001 in the arid lands just outside of Timbuktu, a dazzling clearinghouse of the rich sounds emanating from Mali, one of Africa’s poorest nations financially, but richest culturally. The event quickly developed into one of world music’s signature events, spearheaded by members of the great Tuareg group Tinariwen. But when Islamic fundamentalists hijacked a Tuareg uprising in 2012 the festival had to be canceled among increasing violence. So this year the event is in exile and members of the Malian musical community have organized an informal caravan of sounds across the US this summer, and a slew of great players roll into the city for this year’s World Music Festival: Chicago. Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba, Mamadou Kelly, Sidi Toure, and Leila Gobi all perform multiple concerts, showcasing the bluesy foundation of traditional Malian music.

(schedule is subject to change)