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  2nd Edition of the Taragalte Sahara Culture Festival, 25-27 February  2010

My son Laurens and I would represent the Sahara Roots Foundation during the
festival but also travelling with us were Hester, Charlotte and Jolanda of
Butterfly Works Foundation, Amsterdam. www.butterflyworks.org.
They had recently been asked to help in the development of a new eco-lodge/culture centre
in the area.  Halim and Ibrahim Sbai, the organisers of the festival, were focusing on the
 "Women of the Sahara" during this 2nd edition of the Taragalte Festival and so during this
festival Butterfly Works would be setting up workshops together with the women of this area.
Travelling through the area of the Draa south of the High Atlas Mountains towards M'hamid
it became quite clear that a lot of rain had fallen during the past few days before we arrived
on the 19th of February.
The extent of the rainfall became really visible as we arrived in M'hamid.
The normally dry Draa River bed which passes through this area was now flowing again with all it's furry. The inhabitants had not seen this much water in 30 years!
  Knowing that this area was suffering from an extreme drought during the past years we were really happy to see the riverbanks filled to the brim. People were strolling along the riverbanks as if it was the Seine in Paris! Little did we know that it would present us with a big problem due to the fact that the bridge leading from the new town of M'hamid across to the old villages, had completely disappeared under the strong current of the now streaming river. We were unable to cross and the festival terrain was on the other side.
Tomorrow the river would subside, Insha Allah.

It took 4 days for the water level to drop. Festival volunteers and visitors were stuck on one side
of the riverbank, others that had already started with the set up of the terrain were stuck on the
other side of the river. However we remained positive and started the different workshops on our side of the river together with women from different villages that we were able to reach.
Butterfly Works had also been asked to help create a plan for a new Culture Center/ Eco Lodge
in this region together with architects from Bureau EAST from Fez/Toronto (www.bureaueast.com), Halim and Ibrahim Sbai, the local L'Association Zaila and Sahara Roots.
This project will become a "Pilot Project' in Morocco.
  The Taragalte Festival gave the opportunity for all those present from these different organisations to meet each other and discuss the project. It was also an opportunity to interact with the inhabitants living here, to enjoy the traditional music and the dances from this region.
On the 24th of February  we finally crossed the river by jeep. We were happy to see the farmers
working hard to make good use of all the water to irrigate the palm trees and their fields.
The festival terrain had been well prepared for the 3 day festival that would start the next day.
For the opening ceremony, which was held on the 25th , a separate terrain had been set up just
before entering  M'hamid and had been beautifully decorated in a traditional style.

Many officials attended as well as local inhabitants, visitors and journalists, all enjoying the
exhibitions and different musicians that were present as well as a theatre performance by
various children of M'hamid. The theatre performance had been organised by the
" Manivelle- Theatre en mouvement" from Switzerland, and Frernand Veuthey and Anne-Claude Liardet worked very hard with the children to prepare this presentation.
See: www.manivelle-theatre.ch They had been asked by the Taragalte festival organisers to attend the festival and it was a great success. 

  Mr. Issa Dikso, (secretary, academic, speaker, co-founder of The Festival in the Desert and
member of Terakaft)  had also come from Mali to be present, during the days of the festival,
enjoying many discussions as well as many of the musical festivities.
The Association Taghreft Tinariwen www.keltinariwen.org is a trans-Saharan non profit organisation with charitable aims based in Kidal, North Eastern Mali. Taghreft Tinariwen, whose name means "the development of the deserts" in Tamashek, the language of the Touareg of the southern Sahara. The Taragalte Festival' s goal is also to strengthen the cultural heritage in compliance with the ecological potential of the region. We were able to learn a lot from Issa Dikko and his experience for which we are truly grateful.

During the evenings and nights everyone enjoyed the conversations, the poetry, the chants,
the story telling about desert life, the dancing and the music presented by women, men and
youngsters from the region in the Moroccan Sahara stretching from Tata to Merzouga.
However on the 2nd  day of the festival tragedy struck the town of M'hamid. a young 16 year old boy had drowned in the fast currents of the now streaming Draa River.
The organizers decided to cancel the 3rd days program in solidarity with the victims family. 
  
  In the afternoon of the 27th of February we were able to plant a few trees on a site close to
the festival terrain. Tree planting is an activity of Foundation Sahara Roots
www.sahara-roots.org  together with the local foundation Zaila and the inhabitants of this area.
Our aim is to combat desertification of the oasis villages by planting trees.
During some of the workshops given by Butterfly Works  women of different villages had been asked to decorate the plastic water containers that are generally used to fetch water from the wells.  During this festive event the women and children present where singing while they used these containers to water the newly planted trees.

Although the main music festivities of the festival had been cancelled there were still a lot of musicians and visitors present in the bivouac where we were staying and as the sun was setting the chanting of men and women alike could be heard as they slowly started singing.
It was magical, in the quiet of the desert.
The voices of the women became stronger and stronger as they became more confident and we were to witness something that previously had only happened within families and during wedding ceremonies. 
 		  
  It was an honour to be present, to listen to men and women singing back and forth, to listen to
fire crackling in the silence during a break in the singing and to taste the freshly baked bread that had been prepared in the sand in the traditional way.
This truly was a traditional festival and so the idea for the 3rd edition of the Taragalte festival was born. 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those present during
the Taragalte Sahara Culture Festival 2010 for helping to make this a very special event for all.

Wanda Hebly
Sahara-Roots Foundation
     
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  Festival news 2009  
    FESTIVALS AU SAHARA A DAKHLA ET TARAGALTE 2009 Video
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9selk_festivals-au-sahara-a-dakhla-et-tar_music		  
     Opening of the first edition of the festival "Taragalte, Sahara and Culture in El M'hamid Ghizlane
February 25, 2009 11:24:00 a.m.
El M'hamid Ghizlane - The first edition of the festival "Taragalte, Sahara and Culture
started on Wednesday at El M'hamid Ghizlane with a colorful parade of different Moroccan tribes.
Located in the desert, the festival goers saw local groups performing Chamra, Guedra,
as well as Lekrab Bounou, a Congolese group and the popular musical group of
Mauritanian singer Alia Bent Lmeddah. 
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