The much lauded 'Festival In The Desert 2003' was the first of two programmes to come from Mali. Winner of the Sony Gold Award the show includes music from Ali Farka Toura, Tinariwen, Robert Plant, Tartit and Afel Bocum. The festival itself is held in a nearby oasis in the southern Sahara Desert, and is the traditional gathering of the Touareg people, who sing powerfully hypnotic songs about the pain and pleasures of desert life.