with a special itinerary designed for photographers
West Africa’s Best Music and Dance Festival
against the serene backdrop of the Niger River.
2 trips covering Southern and Northern Mali with
The Dogon Country
South Mali trip + Festival On The Niger
22 Jan - 07 Feb 2011
Bamako - Djenne - Niger River to Timbuktu
Dogon Trek - Festival Sur Le Niger - Bamako
with special photography option
Festival On The Niger + Desert Safari
03-20 Feb 2011
Bamako - Festival Sur Le Niger - Djenne - Homboroi + elephants - Desert safari
from Bamako
2
festival on the niger
Your photography teacher - Jonathan Perugia
Jonathan has been a professional photographer for over fifteen years. His photojournalism and travel photography have been published in newspapers, travel books and magazines worldwide. His travel photography has taken him to Shanghai, Las Vegas, Bali, California, Tuscany, and Morocco.
He has shot for the UN and Save the Children, covered the Asian Tsunami and conflicts in Indonesia.
This passion for photography and its power to move and change people has inspired him to teach. He has organised projects and exhibitions with street children in Jakarta, kids affected by conflict in Borneo, and Burmese journalists in Bangkok. He has held photography workshops at a yoga centre in Crete, in the Cotswolds and one-to-one classes in London and New York.
Jonathan makes photography fun and accessible, and encourages participants to experiment and develop their own style.
This trip is open to photographers of all standards.
ABOUT
PHOTOS
SLIDESHOWS
The Festival On The Niger is the biggest festival in Mali, and possibly in Africa. It is a fantastic celebration of west African music, dance and culture.
The Festival On the Niger takes place over four days in the town of Segou, the former capital of the Bambara empire that preceeded the colonial era. Segou is situated on the banks of the great river Niger, 4 hours drive down river from Bamako.
Because of its accessible location and the growing prestige all the top West African artists drop everything to play at this festival.
The Trips
I have three trips programed around the Festival on The Niger for 2011.
South Mali trip + Festival
22 Jan - 07 Feb 2011
Bamako - Djenne - Niger River to Timbuktu
Dogon Trek - Festival Sur Le Niger - Bamako
See MALI page for more information on the elements
Prices from €2450
South Mali trip + Festival
with special photography emphasis
22 Jan - 07 Feb 2011
Bamako - Djenne - Dogon Trek - Timbuktu - Niger River to Mopti
- Festival Sur Le Niger - Bamako
See MALI page for more information on the elements
Prices from €2950
Festival + Desert Safari
03-20 Feb 2011
Bamako - Festival Sur Le Niger - Djenne - Homboroi + elephants - Desert safari
See Tuareg Mali and Tuareg Festival Safari for more information about this trip
Prices from €2450
For the full itineraries and trip information for these trips please sign up in the web form.
History
The Festival began in 2005 after the success of the Festival in The Desert. Mali is really two countries, the Tuareg northern desert region and the southern sahel region.
The Festival In the Desert represents this northern tradition. The southern half of Mali felt that their rich and diverse culture needed its own expression. So with the Festival On The Niger the diverse cultures of southern Mali who have all historically cohabited this region, are celebrated - Bambara, Dogon, Bozo, Peul Malinke.
As so many of these cultures spread into other parts of west Africa the festival has become a wonderfully vibrant and colourful expression of west African cultures in general
It’s accessibility, being not too far from Bamako, means that The Festival On The Niger attracts not only the highest quality artists but also the middle classes of Bamako and the region so you really feel like a fly on the wall in a great celebration of West African music.
Djenne Mosque
