The city of Diourbel, 100km from Dakar, is to host the first edition of the International Khassaidi Festival. Poems written by the Senegalese Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba, founder of the Muslim brotherhood known as Muridism, one of the three main religious strands in the country and the only autochthonous one. The event has been promoted and organised by a local group, the ‘New Diourbel Movement’, one of the aims of which is “the social and cultural development of the region”. Key political and religious figures have confirmed that they will be attending the opening ceremony. Khassaidi poems are passed down in different ways: the ‘Radiass’ are solo songs, the ‘Awou’ and the ‘Kourel’ are choral. The recital of religious poems will be interspersed with conferences and debates, during which the topicality of Bamba’s religious and cultural teaching will be discussed, amongst other things.
