Since 1993, Saint-Louis has lived to the rhythm of jazz. For five nights, the historic city, a UNESCO World Heritage site, becomes an open-air stage where improvisation, African fusion and international virtuosity meet.

For its 34th edition, the Saint-Louis Jazz Festival once again confirmed its status as a major musical event on the continent. In Place Baya Ndar, facing the iconic Faidherbe Bridge, the music soared under the stars, blending contemporary jazz, Afrobeat, Sahelian blues, and Atlantic sounds. But the event doesn't end with the official stages: in the off-stage area, another kind of magic unfolds.

The Farmers Coffee Show: the living soul of the festival

For the past two years, the Farmers café, an iconic Saint-Louis establishment, has become the epicenter of a parallel phenomenon. Initiated by Moussa Niang, the café's owner and former footballer, in collaboration with the artist Tex LBK, the Farmers Coffee Show has established itself as a highlight of the festival.

Every evening, the entire street transforms into a giant stage stretching for nearly a kilometer. Artists, influencers, music lovers, and curious onlookers gather for open-air concerts where the audience doesn't just listen: it participates. With its carefully curated dress code, spontaneous choreography, and warm atmosphere, everything contributes to bringing to life the "ndar-ndar spirit," a blend of elegance, sharing, and warmth.

True to form, Tex LBK, the Saint-Louisian artist, interacts, jokes, and sings amidst the crowd, fostering that rare connection between artist and audience. Alongside him, talents like Ousmane Dramé, a guitar virtuoso and self-taught luthier, have made a lasting impression. His guitars, entirely designed and crafted in Senegal, showcase a local expertise that rivals international standards.

A festival that goes beyond music

If festival-goers danced until the early hours, it's also because the festival has become much more than a cultural event. It's a living heritage, a tool for cultural diplomacy, a driver of tourism and the local economy, and a space for professional networking. Saint-Louis doesn't just host jazz: it reinvents it, it makes it its own.

This 34th edition, which ended on May 16th, featured major international jazz acts in the main program and artists such as Carlou D, VJ, Amadeus, Ashs the Best, Pape and Cheikh, Guneyi, and Met & the Cornerstones, among others, in the fringe program. But beyond the names, it was this collective energy, this pride of belonging, and this feeling of cultural renaissance that left a lasting impression.

For Saint-Louisians from here and elsewhere, the event is now firmly established: every year, they meet at Farmers Coffee to get together, have fun, and celebrate, for a few nights, the soul of their city.

Saint-Louis beats, and its heart is called jazz.

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