In the shadow of Timbuktu’s ivory-coloured Monument To Peace, musicians from across Mali took the stage as the sun set on the sand-coloured houses of the historic city on the edge of the Sahara Desert.
Local community leaders and representatives of the military government opened the city’s traditional festival with the usual pomp and ceremony. But this year things were different.
Timbuktu has been under blockade by the al-Qaeda affiliated group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) since late August.
Villages just outside the city have become a battleground between Mali’s army and the jihadist fighters.
People in Timbuktu have endured months of sporadic access to supplies that would normally come from neighbouring Algeria and Mauritania, with food and petrol prices skyrocketing.
With such volatile security conditions, in a region under siege, why hold the festival this year?
“It’s needed more than ever, because it’s something to help lift people’s spirits and it brings a lot of support to the local economy,” says Salaha Maiga, director of the festival and a member of the National Transitional Council, Mali’s interim parliament appointed after the military seized power in 2021.
The Living Together festival has become a major event here since it was first organised eight years ago with support from the UN mission in Mali, Minusma.
Dozens of traders and local artisans showcase their merchandise on colourful rows of stands, selling everything from traditional ornaments to food.
This year, says Mr Maiga, the fair has brought a much-needed respite to local businesses who have struggled due to the blockade.
But the main goal of the festival has always been about fostering dialogue. It brings together members of different communities for debates about a range of topics – this time, a special focus was on female entrepreneurship.
Music performances were held in the evenings after the blistering day-time heat has subsided, with singers and bands travelling from all over Mali and even neighbouring countries.
Even though Timbuktu has been – and still is – under curfew, authorities said they wouldn’t enforce it for the duration of the event.
“This year we have an even bigger attendance than in the past,” Mr Maiga adds, “because since September there’s been a stop to normal life.”
Normality is something Mali’s military junta desperately wants to project, to reassure a population impoverished by the months of blockade and worried about the increasing number of attacks on civilians.
More than 136,000 people, including nearly 74,000 children, live in the city, according to data from the charity Save The Children.
The UN estimates that at least 33,000 people have been displaced around Timbuktu since the crisis began, but the rate of people fleeing has slowed down after 49 civilians were killed in an attack on a boat while trying to leave the city.
Most recently, on 24 November, an attack in the neighbouring town of Niafunké caused dozens of casualties.
“We received 29 injured people, so we had to deploy a mass casualty plan,” says Aissami Abdou, the regional operations coordinator for the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
The charity is worried that the continuing blockade is preventing them from helping those in need.
“We’ve had to reduce our movements, we’ve had to reduce the exposure of the team,” Mr Abdou adds.
“The second concern is about the access of the population to healthcare structures. Due to years of conflict, healthcare access was already an issue, and now it’s become even more difficult.”