29/07/2024
Each year the semi-nomadic Wodaabe people gather for a week of incredible celebrations known as the Gerewol in Niger as well in Chad. These colourful festival are one of Africa’s most spectacular and few westerners are privileged to see it. However, we have built up excellent local contacts over the years, which means we are able to take you to this remote part of Niger or Chad to stay with these deeply traditional people. We join them as they congregate for feasting, racing, dancing and finding lovers.
The Gerewol festival is renowned for the way in which young Wodaabe men decorate themselves. Donning make-up and jewellery they ‘display’ to young women, in search of a partner either for life, or something less ‘permanent’!
Camping in the Sahel, we stay with the Wodaabe for several days, gaining more than just a fleeting glimpse of their lives. We immerse ourselves in their cultures that lives very much outside of mainstream society. The Wodaabe adhere to a complex set of traditions that stretch back centuries and across borders, but are in danger of becoming lost in the future. This is a rare opportunity to meet these unique people for a celebration of their culture that will simply take your breath away.
Gerewol Festival is the most exciting for those who are fascinated in the varied ethnography of Africa. It’s an absolute delights for photographers as this is essentially an elaborate and archaic beauty contest. Many people have heard of the Gerewol Festival of Niger and we can expect to have a very intimate experience.
We’ve been running trips to the Gerewol since years, and have excellent connections with the local people here to be sure of being able to experience as much as possible and be experiencing a truly authentic cultural experience, deeply meaningful for the attendees and an important event in the Wodaabe social calendar.
