The central market of Thiès is the beating heart of the city — a dense, colourful maze of stalls selling everything from Senegalese cloth and hardware to fresh produce, dried fish, spices, and mobile phones. It is a working market, not a tourist attraction, and the pace and noise level can be overwhelming at first. Give it time and it becomes fascinating.
The cloth section is particularly worth exploring. Thiès is known as a centre of the Senegalese textile trade, and the variety of wax prints, basin riche (embroidered fabric), and locally dyed cotton on offer is extraordinary. Bargaining is expected and the vendors are generally good-humoured about it. Morning is the best time to visit — by early afternoon the heat and the crowd become intense.