FETE DE LA MARE

The festival is usually held at the end of May, but the exact date is only specified a few weeks before, depending on the moon. On this occasion, Guineans of all ethnicities and guests from neighboring countries or further afield, passionate about traditions and music, mingle joyfully for a day and a night. The evening before the fishing, masks dressed in leaves welcome the first visitors by dancing. Then begins a great vigil around griots telling tales to the sound of their koras, dancers adapting their steps to the frenzied rhythms of the djembes and small vendors offering their goods by the light of their lamps. Most people will sleep very little, before meeting again the next day, to form new dance groups, in traditional costumes. In the morning, bare-chested warriors armed with swords dance for several hours under the sun, to the rhythm of the djembes. Then appears the Nié Dian, a mask mounted on stilts, which performs a dance during which it proves its agility and sense of balance before collapsing voluntarily on the ground. Assistants then symbolically mimic the pounding of millet in a mortar placed on his jolting body. Finally, the Nié Dian, stronger than the humans, triumphs over his enslavement and gets up, before leaving, victorious. During this time, the crowd wanders through the sacred forest to buy their kinkeliba crowns or to make offerings of kola nuts or banknotes in order to attract the protection of the ancestors. Young boys dance to rhythms called "dundumba", the dances of strong men. In the early afternoon, a huge procession composed of all the future fishermen, equipped with artisanal traps or nets, and led by tireless musicians, moves towards the sacred forest while singing. This forest is in fact composed of some magnificent cheese trees, whose immense and wrinkled trunks are used as decoration for a wild saraband, raising a dust which soon prevents you from seeing your neighbors. When everyone finally starts to run out of breath, the population gathers around the pond and waits for the guard's signal. When the signal is given, everyone rushes into the pond and methodically digs through the silt to catch fish of all sizes. Even if you don't dive into the pond with the other fishermen, the party is sure to leave you with unforgettable and authentic memories.