Music revelers gather in Morocco for the International Nomads Festival

Music revelers gathered in M’hamid El Ghizlane, Morocco for the International Nomads Festival last Thursday.

Nigerien guitarist Goumour Almoctar, alias Bombino was one of the biggest crowd pullers . The Tuareg artist prides himself on producing the sounds of the nomadic Tuareg of Niger. He shot to fame over ten years ago.

Almoctar said ,“through guitar, we can express human interactions” adding that his music felt natural to him as it was something he had grown up with”. Malian band, Terakaft entertained their audience with songs about experiencing solitude in the desert.

Leader of the band, Sanou Ag Ahmed said that though their music is a modern take on essentially traditional music, the tunes resonate with all people because, “there are people who don’t understand our lyrics but understand our music.”

The three-day International Nomads Festival, now in its 14th year, aims to preserve the music, customs and traditions of the regions various Nomadic tribes dispersed across vast desert.