Ever since Ears To The House was made aware of what was going on – or more specifically wasn’t – at Fajara Dance Festival in Gambia just over a week ago, the questions have simply continued to mount up. The problem is that as more enquiries are made, the less sense everything makes – leaving right-minded types wondering, just what on earth happened out there?
The festival was meant to begin on 21st November and go on for eight days in total. It was a big undertaking in a country known for being very welcoming of tourists – but, respectfully, not as well-known for holding long festivals such as this. It was due to take place on the grounds of the Fajara Hotel, just off the Atlantic Road in the Fajara district.
Things were going wrong from before the festival even started – with the organisers being mysteriously locked out of their own website just days before things were due to begin. It steadily got worse as people checking into the hotel soon discovered that renovation work on the premises were running late – having been due to finish some weeks earlier.
Promoter Andree Turay was seemingly nowhere to be seen throughout the whole saga – only briefly appearing in a now-deleted photo on an Instagram post by musician Boddhi Satva. A source tells Ears To The House that Turay has been left “deeply distraught” by everything that’s happened and has found “the past few weeks to be some of the hardest in her life”.
Did any of the festival actually take place in the end? No one seems to know for sure, but Boddhi Satva’s latest statement during the week might provide some clues in it. Aside from rightfully castigating guests who apparently displayed racist behaviour towards the hotel’s staff, Satva made some astonishing claims – including that Turay was exposed to death threats whilst out in the country…
Exactly who was responsible for making these death threats, and the reasons they did so is not something Satva comments upon – but he explains this was one of the reasons why he decided to take an earlier flight out of Gambia. Satva also mentions a discussion he had with Turay whilst in the country – where she apparently promised him that she would be refunding everyone.
It also strongly suggests that Satva did not play his scheduled set at the event – the festival organisers’s statement was quietly amended some hours after its initial publication to remove comments stating that he and Aluku Rebels would be. Satva is now looking forward to his set at Djoon in Paris next weekend – and was spending this weekend celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Central African Republic’s foundation.
At the time of publication, those who contacted us about the Fajara Dance Festival report that they have yet to hear anything about refunds…
