Abene Festivalo

ARTISTS PROGRAMME ORGANISATION COMMITTEE

Every winter a music festival gathers the best artists of the region in Abene, attracting a large audience both African and European. Percussionists and dancers from around the world come to learn, improve or perfect their art in the traditional way all year. Abene welcomes artists from other areas of Senegal, Gambia, Guinea and attracts regular visitors from France, Holland, Germany, England, Spain and Belgium to name only a few.

Each year the festival generally takes place between 26 December and 2 January. However if you are specifically coming to attend the festival, please do email us so that we can confirm that the dates have not been changed at the last minute by the organisation committee.

Since 2008, prices have been set up as follows: standing 500* fcfa per night, seating outside 1,000* fcfa per night, seating under tent 1,500* fcfa per night. However a special price may apply on 31st December.

(£1 = 730 CFA, 1 EURO = 640 CFA but rates vary slightly from time to time - please check http://www.xe.com/ucc/full/ for currency rate)

N.B. The organisation committee of the festival would like to inform all visitors that it is strictly forbidden to audio or video record any performance within the festival programme. Any person caught recording without prior permission from the festival committee will be asked to hand the tape or minidisk immediately. This rule is aiming to protect the work of professional artists who have in the past found out that their music was sometimes edited without giving credit or offering any payment to them. This also encourages all professional artists intending to perform at the festival to know their cultural heritage is respected by the audience.