Activity report · 2022

Recently, the Aoussou Parade Association has faced many difficulties in overcoming the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis, owing to the financial problems it caused the association, which had to sell some of its assets to settle its arrears with the tax office. In addition, its activities stagnated and its annual festival was suspended for the last five years.

On the morning of Saturday 16 April 2022, the association’s elective general assembly was held at the cultural complex, Avenue Mohamed Maarouf, Sousse. It resulted in the election of Mr Walid Ben Hassen and the appointment of a new board for the association, with the aim of giving the festival a fresh, youthful impetus.

The association thus set about organising the 60th edition of the festival, scheduled for the period from 17 July to 28 August 2022, the date of the carnival.

Thanks to the efforts made by all the central, regional and local authorities, the association benefited from the cooperation and goodwill of all parties.

However, despite its commitment to this long-established cultural, tourist and recreational asset of the region, and its readiness to continue working with them to achieve a prestigious return of the festival, the delay in the payment of grants prevented this.

Its resources relied mainly, and almost entirely, on grants allocated to it under the public funding of associations by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, the Ministry of Tourism, and the Municipality and Governorate of Sousse.

Although it had obtained the approval of all these parties for the payment of the grants, the payment was delayed owing to the nature of the procedures in force, as well as a major political event (the referendum) coinciding with the festival’s original date.

As a result, the association was unable to take any practical steps in the form of binding commitments with the various stakeholders and service providers — Tunisian and foreign artists and creators, and related services — even though the board had done everything required at the administrative level, preparing the files and sending them to all the parties concerned, including ministries and public administrations. However, after all these steps, since the agreed financial resources had not been paid into the association’s account in time, and since the time needed for the actual preparation of the carnival had run out…

This was despite the association’s determination to make the edition a success, and despite the trip made by members of the festival board, the Secretary General and the Artistic Director, on a technical coordination visit to Nice, France, from 18 to 22 July 2022, to talk with foreign float manufacturers about supplying carnival floats. These efforts, however, came up against the requirement of a 50% advance payment or a bank credit covering the full amount (letter of credit) on signing the contract, the delay in the payment of public funding from the ministries and bodies supporting the festival, and the lack of dedicated premises and a workshop for the association, the space that would allow it to build and restore floats all year round.

As all this made it impossible to hold the edition within the announced timeframe, in the form and at the artistic level befitting it and the expectations of its fans and audience, the association decided to postpone this edition to the summer of 2023.

It confined itself to organising the entertainment day on 17 July as part of the national Street Workout competition, in partnership with the Tunisian Street Workout Association. Part of the programme of the carnival’s 60th edition, the day took place in a sporting and professional atmosphere, with highly skilled performances by enthusiastic young people on the sand of Boujaafar beach.

In addition, an evening of Algerian ballet was performed by the Algerian troupe of Mohamed Abderrachid Seghni: an enjoyable artistic and cultural show on Twin Cities Square in Sousse, which drew large crowds of Tunisians and tourists.

Following this, the association continued to hold meetings to find alternative solutions and resolve its problems, in order to ensure the success of the next edition next summer. The priority is to secure and equip workshop premises, creating a space where the association can design its own floats, rely solely on the work of young Tunisians rather than depending on costly foreign productions, invest its resources in training young people and developing their skills and talents, and focus on its objectives of showcasing Tunisian heritage through Tunisian productions.