The Cure Salée — The Salt Cure — is the annual gathering of West African nomadic peoples that has converged on In-Gall for at least the past two centuries. It takes place over a week or ten days in mid-September, at the end of the brief rainy season, when the salt-rich grass around the town's pans is at its most nutritious and the nomads bring their herds to graze, replenish minerals, and meet other clans.
The festival has three set pieces. Camel races across the open plain south of town, with riders in indigo turbans and the long single-pole saddles of the Tuareg. The Wodaabe Gerewol, where young Fulani men dance in formation for the inspection of marriageable women. And the market, where months of accumulated trade — salt, dates, dried meat, leather, silver jewellery, livestock — change hands in days. The Nigerien state has promoted the festival as a national event since the 1960s, and the president traditionally attends the opening.