Since 2015, the Nyege Nyege Festival has been an international music festival held in Jinja, Uganda. The festival, held on Nile Discovery Beach, is encircled by approximately four acres of beautiful, green tropical forest, complete with its private beach and sculptures dotting the environment.
The World Festival of Black Arts, which took place in Dakar, Senegal, in 1966 and highlighted the ingenuity of the African diaspora and Africa’s musical influence on the rest of the world, inspired the organizers of Nyege Nyege. Nyege Nyege is recognized as the African centre of the worldwide bass music scene because it provides a unique opportunity to watch African electronic performers who rarely perform outside their native nations.
Nyege Nyege aspires to build a discourse between artists from the African diaspora in addition to exhibiting Africa’s best up-coming talent. The festival mixes various genres such as kwaito from South Africa, kuduro from Angola, balani from Mali, and the Ugandan dancehall. They involve a mix of traditional rhythm and modern electronics. Previous lineups have included:
- • American hip-hop
- • Caribbean jazz
- • South American cumbia musicians, and
- • European composers whose work incorporates African rhythms.
Nyege Nyege’s music and art are experimental. Expect Afro-futurist moods, bizarre fusions of traditional and modern, and body-moving tunes. And if all the dancing makes you sweat, you can always cool yourself in the Nile. If you’re unfamiliar with African music, Nyege Nyege’s broad selection can be enlightening. To help festivalgoers better grasp what’s going on onstage, the event will include a series of film screenings, including a rare variety of movies about Africa’s musical legacy.
Nyege Nyege also offers a vibrant blend of East and West African dishes, Afro-Asian combinations, Thai and Indian food, and barbeque.
If you’re visiting Uganda before the festival, you’ll have had the opportunity to buy some of the country’s vibrant, patterned fabrics. Tailors will be present at Nyege Nyege to build you a personalized outfit – far outweighs festival fashion from the mall. In addition, at the festival’s pop-up boutique, local designers sell jewelry and other unique items. And the festival’s tailors guarantee one-of-a-kind items that deviate from the usual fare commonly found in Ugandan shops.
As if Nyege Nyege did not have enough exciting activities, Jinja has plenty of opportunities for outdoor recreation, such as mountain biking, white water rafting, bungee jumping, and other activities. Most of the population is well conversant with English, so communication is not a problem for non-locals.
The event took a two-year break due to COVID regulations and is supposed to return in 2022. Nyege Nyege Festival, Uganda’s most anticipated event on the yearly social calendar, is scheduled to take place from September 15th to 18th, 2022, in a new venue, Itanda Falls. The new venue was unveiled due to the ever-growing population of attendees. There was a need to give the event a new outlook. This was planned to be the most historic edition, with a new site, new activities, and a colossal lineup of over 300 artists worldwide.
This year, the festival, formed on love, resilience, a passion for music, and a desire to shine a light on Uganda, is going all-in, cooperating with collectives from around the continent. Nyege Nyege is convinced that by upgrading to a brand-new site, it would be able to provide revellers with a more pleasant and roomy experience while putting Itanda Falls on the map as one of East Africa’s most exciting tourism sites.
However, recent developments had cast a shadow of doubt on whether this event will take place as planned. This is after it recently faced opposition from the Ugandan parliament as it is seen as a promoter of immorality and against the Ugandan culture and values. Uganda is a conservative country and primarily a Christian nation. The country values its traditional and religious beliefs and therefore needs to be protected according to the members of the Ugandan national assembly. According to Madam Sarah Opendi, member of parliament for Tororo, the festival is a breeding environment for sex and other forms of immorality. Despite the tourism minister trying to defend the value of the event in the country’s tourism, he faced immense resistance but at long last, the event is approved and back on as was initially planned. According to Mbu part of the agreement that gave the event a green light are:
- Minors (persons under 18 years) are barred from the festival.
- Sex orgies and nudity are prohibited at the festival.
- Contraband/narcotic drugs are prohibited at the festival.
- Vulgar language, songs, expressions, and gestures are prohibited.
- Security personnel and officials from the Ethics & Integrity Directorate will have a right of impromptu entry to the festival for purposes of monitoring the activities.
- Organizers of the festival shall sign a written undertaking with Uganda Police Force (UPF), for purposes of complying with these guidelines and ensuring the safety of revelers.
- UPF shall work closely with the organizers to enforce the guidelines at all times.
Breaches of any of the above guidelines will attract sanctions, including prosecution.
To get tickets for wishing to take part in the event, you are advised to visit tickets to book your tickets.
Different modes of accommodations are also available on the website for those who wish not to have a hustle of searching for accommodation elsewhere; some include onsite accommodation majorly camping and offsite accommodation that is; Adrift, the popular Ugandan-based adventure brand associated with Lemala Camps and Lodges.
Documentation Needed at Kenyan-Uganda Ports of Entry
Individuals crossing the Kenyan-Uganda border will need certain documents to do so, including the following:
- Passport (or national ID for East Africans)
- Visa (if applicable)
- Yellow fever vaccination certificate
- A negative COVID-19 PCR test certificate is no longer required for fully vaccinated inbound and outbound travellers. You must provide a copy of your certificate to be scanned.
International visitors who meet the Kenyan eVisa requirements can take the convenient option of applying for their visa online, which skips any unnecessary trips to an embassy.
