Jarra East: Culture in Bureng and Pakali Ba

Get to know Jarra East through two specific cultural points of interest: the Mandinka community festival in Bureng and the historic market tradition of Pakali Ba. They offer different themes and connections to the past—from a festival featuring masked figures to Friday markets that are part of the area’s history.

Cultural history of places in Jarra East

The Bureng (Koosee) Cultural Festival is a Mandinka community festival in the village of Bureng in Jarra East. Manding masked figures such as Koosee and konoo are presented there.

Pakali Ba is a riverside settlement in Jarra East. Historically, Fridays after Jummah prayers were local market days there, with an open-air market called a lumo.

Lower River: park and nature

The Kiang West National Park is located in the wider Lower River destination. It covers about 11,500 hectares, or 115 square kilometres; the Gambia River forms its northern boundary.

A species list records more than 250 bird species in the park. Twelve species are very locally distributed in The Gambia and difficult to observe elsewhere in the country. Twenty-one raptor species have been observed within the park boundaries, including vultures, crowned eagles, hawks and falcons. All ten kingfisher species found in The Gambia also live within the park boundaries.

The brown-necked parrot breeds in the park’s mangrove forests. Humpback dolphins are occasionally sighted on the Jarin Bolon.

The Genieri Community Museum is a community museum in the wider Lower River area.

Consider the wider region when searching for accommodation

Bureng and Pakali Ba are cultural points of interest in Jarra East; Kiang West National Park, its birdlife and the Genieri Community Museum are part of the wider Lower River area.

For an overview of the wider destination: Lower River.