• A 72-hour Festival to raise awareness through music and culture
• Tree planting, giant concerts and a panel at the heart of the 2023 edition
The first edition of the International Festival of Music for the Environment (FESIME) recently took the cultural scene of Ouagadougou by storm, offering a combination of vibrant music, informed discussions on environmental issues and gestures of solidarity towards the Displaced People. internal (PDI). Launched by reggaeman Ibrahim Simporé, better known as Ras SIMPOSH, FESIME 2023 began with a symbolic tree planting ceremony in the town hall of the commune of Tanghin Dassouri, on Friday July 28, 2023. A team Economiste du Faso witnessed this inaugural planting, which marked the start of the event. The Child Project Association, conductor of FESIME 2023, intends to plant around 200 plants, on the occasion of this event which aims to combine music and ecological awareness. At the end of the inaugural planting, the first vice-president of the special delegation of the commune, El Hadj Boureima Belemnaba, invited his guests to also think about the survival of the plants. As a fashion effect, the municipality receives several dozen structures each year for reforestation actions. “If the plants survived, there would be no place in Tanghin Dassouri to plant a single tree,” explains El Hadj Boureima Belemnaba. For Ras Simposh, by limiting the number of plants to 200, the Association does not intend to leave these trees to their own fate.
FESIME 2023 is 72 clock hours, during which festival-goers had the opportunity to participate in an informative panel on current environmental challenges and to be entertained with giant concerts, theater, dance and of humor. Moreover, according to Ras Simposh, artists came from Libreville and Madagascar, to enhance the brilliance of the festival with their presence. The FESIME 2023 did not only thrill hearts with its concerts and shows. It also provided support to vulnerable populations, offering food kits to IDPs in Pazani. The president of the IDPs, El Hadj Saïdou Sawadogo, expressed his gratitude for this benevolent action, which affected more than a hundred people. He explains that the site, of which he is the president, is home to more than a thousand IDPs and that it is the generosity of goodwill that supports them.
As the driving force behind FESIME, Ras SIMPOSH stressed the vital importance of preserving the environment. He recalled that regions like Kenya are facing a water crisis, while Burkina Faso has suffered considerable land loss over the past two decades. Talking about the origin of FESIME, Ras SIMPOSH explained that the idea came after his hit released in 2020, a music dedicated to the protection and preservation of the environment. The goal is to sow in the minds of each other the urgent need to ensure the protection of the environment. The Festival will be held every year, and will be a platform for raising awareness and advocating for the protection and safeguarding of the environment.
Etienne Lankoandé
Box: Timid mobilization despite a good campaign
There was mixed mobilization around the initiative. However, it is not for lack of having attempted a proactive mobilization campaign, according to RAS Simposh. This could be explained by the observation that instructive subjects, although crucial for the progress of a nation and of humanity, tend to arouse little enthusiasm. A preference for humor and entertainment trumps topics that challenge human comfort. However, it is important to note that the environmental issue retains all its relevance and remains of crucial importance. The alarming frequency of natural disasters, attributed to climate change, is a reminder in more ways than one of the need to protect our environment.
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