Welcome to a festival of the tribes and a feast for the senses! Blue Eye FX Productions crewmembers Rachel von Nordeck, Geraldine Geroue, Ahmed Omar and Uli Holzmann were lucky enough to film the second annual Characters of Egypt Festival for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism.

This unique event, held in Fustat Wadi El-Gemal, just 200 kilometres north from the boarder of Sudan, is an opportunity to benefit the Bedouin tribes long-term by creating previously nonexistent channels of communication among them, and between them and the wider community. The Characters of Egypt Festival showcases traditional sciences and arts; fuels friendly competition between participating tribesmen through age-old games and sportive challenges; and provides guests with the chance to catch a glimpse of life as it exists in the different areas of Egypt’s extensive deserts.

The goal of the festival is to provide a meeting opportunity for representatives of the various tribes that have inhabited the different corners of Egyptian deserts for thousands of years without previously encountering one another. The aim has already borne fruit, as evidenced by the many jokes cracked around the fire while tribesmen donning distinct headgear (each bespeaking a separate affiliation) shared in ripples of laughter; as well as by their cooperation, friendly competition and exchange of poetic virtuosity that enthralled the gathering crowds witnessing the historic event.Cutting across distances -- in some cases exceeding 1,500km -- tribal representatives from Siwa, and Farafra in the Western Desert, from Northern and Southern Sinai and from Aswan converged onto Wadi El Gemal where members of the Al-Bashariya and Al-Ababda tribes, inhabitants of the Southern and Eastern deserts, eagerly awaited the encounter.

Check the video featuring this amazing Festival!