The government of Niger began sponsoring the festival in the 1990s, fixing its date for each year (in 2006: September 11), its duration (three days), and bringing in dignitaries, performers, and tourists.
Tuareg clans gather at the salt flats and pools near Ingall to refresh their cattle and goat herds, and to prepare for the trip further south so they can survive the dry season.
The most famous images of the festival are Wodaabe tradition of Gerewol, in which young men vie for the attention of women seeking husbands.
While the Cure Salée has been taking place for several hundred years, independence from France in 1960 brought the involvement of the central government from Niamey, and the attempt to formalise it as a national festival and tourist attraction.
Official involvement also has brought a greater emphasis on culture common to the rest of Niger: electric pop bands, beauty contests, and the sometimes forced ending of other rituals.