Bianou is a typical Tuareg festival in the town of Agadez, whose origins go back a long way. The real celebrations last three days, although preparations are made 23 days in advance. The date of the festival varies from year to year. Each district has its own colours and flags. The men wear a rich boubou, wide indigo-coloured robes, turbans in the characteristic shape of a cockerel and the inseparable gri (the lucky charm) and swords and spears known as takoubas. To the sound of drums, they sing and dance through the streets of the town to reach the sultan's enclosure, symbolically gathering around the "Etebel", the drum emblematic of the unity of the Tuareg tribes.