🇧🇫 Burkina Faso
Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou (abbreviated Ouaga by everyone who lives or visits there) is the capital of Burkina Faso — a landlocked West African city of 3 million people that has built one of Africa's most vibrant cultural identities despite being one of the world's poorest countries. The city's cultural crown is FESPACO — the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou, held every two years (odd years) since 1969 and considered the premier African cinema festival in the world, a Cannes equivalent that has brought African film culture to international audiences and created a filmmaking tradition in a country with almost no formal film infrastructure. Ouagadougou is also the site of the SIAO craft fair (International Handicraft Fair, every two years) and has a music and arts scene centred on the Mardi Gras equivalent of the Feast of Ouagadougou and the Royal Ceremonies of the Mossi kingdom — the Mossi are the largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso and the Mogho Naba (the Emperor of the Mossi) still holds weekly court in the traditional palace in the city centre. The city's street food culture is built around tô (the starchy millet or sorghum staple eaten with peanut sauce or okra sauce), brochettes (grilled meat on skewers, particularly goat and chicken), and the informal outdoor restaurants called maquis that are the social heart of Ouagadougou evening life. Burkina Faso has been experiencing political instability and security concerns since 2015 (military coups in 2022) and parts of the country are under active jihadist insurgency — the city itself has been relatively secure but travel advisories recommend caution.