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Film Festivals in Ouagadougou
FESPACO
The capital of Burkina Faso and the cultural hub of the Sahel, home to FESPACO, the Pan-African Film and Television Festival that has run here since 1969 and is the largest film festival in Africa. The city centres on a broad avenue lined with cinemas and the bronze Cineastes monument, and also hosts the SIAO arts and crafts fair.
No overall organizer. Delegation Generale du FESPACO anchors the event; the rest belongs to the streets.
Dates & details verified against: Official event site ↗
Why here
FESPACO, the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou, is the largest and oldest film festival in Africa, held here every two years since 1969. For a week the Burkinabe capital becomes the meeting point of African and diaspora cinema: features, documentaries and shorts screen across the city's cinemas and open-air venues, filmmakers and critics gather from across the continent, and the jury awards the Etalon de Yennenga, the Golden Stallion, named for the warrior princess of Mossi legend. The 29th edition in 2025 gave its top prize to the Burkinabe-Franco director Dani Kouyate. Around the screenings sit a market for African film, workshops for young directors, and street life along the Avenue Kwame Nkrumah. It is the single most important stage for African film, and it belongs to Ouagadougou, which built its identity around it and raised a monument to filmmakers at the city's heart.
Best months
FESPACO is biennial and falls in the odd years, over roughly a week from late February into early March, in the dry Harmattan season when Ouagadougou is hot and dusty by day and cooler at night. Screenings run day and evening across several venues, and the closing awards night is the peak. Passes and tickets are sold through the festival, and the city fills, so accommodation books out well ahead. The next edition is confirmed for 27 February to 6 March 2027.
Getting there & around
Travel advisory · Do Not Travel
US State Department Level 4 Do Not Travel for Burkina Faso (terrorism, kidnapping, crime), as of 2026-07; the whole country, including Ouagadougou, is covered. Check your government advisory and current security before any trip, and note that many governments advise against all travel here. FESPACO is biennial, next running 27 February to 6 March 2027. Ouagadougou has an international airport with regional connections. Passes, the film programme and venues are published by the festival at fespaco.bf; there is no tour operator selling attendance. Carry cash, arrange lodging far ahead for a festival year, and confirm dates and accreditation through the official site.
Skill levels: beginner
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