African Festival Tours

African festival tours are becoming increasingly popular as visitors are finding African culture to be as compelling as its wildlife. The benefit of joining a tour that's based around a specific festival is that you're guaranteed to get a flight, hotel and a front row seat to the event. Since some of Africa's most spectacular festivals change their dates year to year and web sites dedicated to festivals are not always updated (in many cases they are non-existent), it's hard for an independent traveler to get the timing right. Luckily there are tour operators who specialize in handling these events. Some of the more compelling ones I've come across include:

• Festival in the Desert - a 7 day trip from Palace Travel to Mali where you'll camp and enjoy a 3 day international music festival celebrating Touareg culture, just north of Timbuktu. January 5 - January 11, 2009.

• Ethiopian Religious Festival Tours - Celebrate Timket (January), Fasika (April) and Meskel (September), the three biggest and most colorful religious celebrations in Ethiopia, with scheduled tours from Grand Holidays Ethiopia.

• Festival on the Niger: Saga Tours offers private tours that are scheduled around a unique 4-day music and arts festival in Segou, along the banks of the Niger River in Mali. January 28 - February 7 2009.

• Essaouira Gnaoua Festival - a unique combination of music and mysticism draws artists from all over the world to Essaouira, a beautiful little town on Morocco's Atlantic coast for a 4 day festival. Sahara Soul Travel offers a 7 day package to coincide with the festival held every year in June.

• Sounds of Wisdom (Sauti za Busara) -- is a 5 day music festival celebrating Swahili culture in the heart of Stonetown in Zanzibar. Zanzibar Festival Tours offers a 2 week package that includes tickets to the festival, accommodation in Stone Town and at the beach. February 11 - February 23, 2009.

More about African Festivals...

_{Touareg Men in Timbuktu, Mali -- © Getty Images/Peter Adams}