Griot Music Festival

The Griot Music Festival is an annual song competition organised by the Association Musicale Saharienne. It determines several countries' representative for ESCBS, and has been staged almost every year since 2024. In 2026, the heats averaged 14.1 million viewers, and over an estimated two million people in Mauritania watched the final, almost half of the Mauritanian population.

The festival has produced one ESCBS winner and TBA top-five placings at the contest. The winner of the GMS has been chosen by panels of jurors since its inception. Since 2026, the juries have been joined by a public telephone vote which has an equal influence over the final outcome. The competition makes a considerable impact on the music charts in the Sahel region.