Ouagadougou · Crafts
800,000 Visitors for African Crafts: Ouaga Closes an XXL SIAO and Sets a Date for 2028
More than 800,000 visitors announced in the closing tally, over 6,000 exhibitors from some thirty countries: the 18th SIAO closed its doors on Saturday in Ouagadougou with an XXL balance sheet. And Africa's crafts biennial has already set its next date — a 19th edition from October 27 to November 5, 2028.
Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), November 9, 2026. You don't close a festival of 800,000 people quietly. On Saturday, November 7, the official closing ceremony of the 18th SIAO — chaired by Ousmane Bougouma, president of the Transitional Legislative Assembly, representing the Head of State — brought a solemn full stop to ten days of encounters around the continent's crafts. And on Sunday still, the exhibition site pulsed with one last evening of huge crowds.
The artisans in the spotlight
The balance sheet presented at the closing is dizzying: more than 800,000 visitors, over 6,000 exhibitors from some thirty countries, around 400 buyers and 18,000 professionals. Forty-two awards honoured the artisans, and the Thomas Sankara Prize for Creativity went to Burkina Faso's Tankouano Yempabou for “FINDI”, his multifunctional loom — a perfect symbol for an edition held under the theme “African Crafts and Industrialization”.
See you in 2028
The SIAO is a biennial: it will take two years of patience before the avenues of Tansoba Kiéma fill up again. The 19th edition is already announced, from October 27 to November 5, 2028, in Ouagadougou. Artisans have time to prepare their finest pieces — and visitors, to save the dates.
In practice
Festival : SIAO — Ouagadougou International Crafts Fair (biennial, founded in 1988)
2026 tally : More than 800,000 visitors, over 6,000 exhibitors from some thirty countries, around 400 buyers
Awards : 42 prizes — the Thomas Sankara Prize for Creativity to Tankouano Yempabou (“FINDI”)
Next edition : 19th edition — October 27 to November 5, 2028, in Ouagadougou
