International Festival of the Sahara

The camel feast

Douz, known as the gateway to the Tunisian Sahara, is an oasis town of more than half a million palm trees and was once an important stop on the trans-Saharan caravan routes. It is the home of the Mrazig, once nomads, who now mostly live settled lives in the town, and its people are known for their mastery of popular poetry.

The festival began in 1910 as camel races and folk games under the patronage of the French resident-general, and was long known as the Aïd al-Jamal, the camel feast, after its races of the finest and fastest camels. It became international in 1967 with the support of several ministries, and it is considered the oldest festival in Tunisia. It preserves and enriches the traditions of the Mrazig and has helped to develop desert tourism.

On Hnich Square

After the official opening, the main events take place on Hnich Square, an area of more than 15 hectares surrounded by Bedouin tents, where around 100,000 spectators gather each year. There are camel races and camel wrestling, fantasias, endurance races on horseback, hunting with sloughi hounds, and re-enactments of traditional Bedouin weddings and the customs of the desert tribes. At the festival’s 40th edition more than fifty of the best-known popular poets took part, and crafts fairs show the traditions of the Tunisian Sahara. In the evenings folk groups from other countries — among them Algeria, Libya and Egypt — perform songs and dances, alongside music and theatre from Tunisia and abroad.