Burkina Faso

Check travel advice. Most governments advise against all travel

The advisory position first: the UK Foreign Office and most Western equivalents advise against all travel to Burkina Faso. Armed groups control large areas, the country has had multiple coups since 2022, kidnapping risk is high and consular support is very limited. This page is reference material rather than a recommendation.

Burkina Faso, meaning land of upright people, has long punched above its weight culturally. FESPACO in Ouagadougou is the largest African film festival in the world, held every two years since 1969, and the SIAO craft fair is the biggest of its kind on the continent.

The country also has the Ruins of Loropeni, a UNESCO-listed stone fortress complex, the Sindou Peaks, a landscape of eroded sandstone fins in the southwest, and Bobo-Dioulasso with its mud-brick Grand Mosque in Sudano-Sahelian style. The Burkinabe reputation for hospitality is well established among the small number of travellers who have been.

Annual events and festivals

• FESPACO (Feb-Mar, odd years) — the Pan-African Film and Television Festival, the largest African film event in the world.
• SIAO (Oct-Nov, even years) — the International Art and Craft Fair, the biggest in Africa.
• Independence Day (5 Aug) — marks 1960 independence from France.
• Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha (varies) — public holidays in a Muslim-majority country.
• Nuits Atypiques de Koudougou (Nov-Dec) — a music and culture festival.
• Fete des Masques, Dedougou (Feb-Mar, even years) — FESTIMA, a festival of masks from across West Africa.
• Mossi traditional ceremonies (varies) — the Mogho Naba court in Ouagadougou holds a weekly ritual.
• Revolution Day (4 Aug) — commemorating Thomas Sankara 1983 revolution.
• Jazz a Ouaga (Apr-May) — a long-running jazz festival.
• Harvest festivals (Oct-Nov) — millet and sorghum celebrations in farming communities.