Benzema among Kenyan artistes to perform at Nyege Nyege Festival
Kenya’s Benzema David aka Alejandro will be among singers from around the world who will entertain revellers expected to converge in Jinja, Uganda, from September 15th to 18th to celebrate East Africa’s most anticipated annual event, the Nyege Nyege Festival.
After a two-year hiatus, this will be the first in-person edition of the event since 2019 and will take place at a new site on the banks of the River Nile – Itanda Falls. The site is five times the size of the festival’s previous venue.
Benzema will be joined by other Kenyan artistes, including Kabeausché, Boutross and Ssaru. The seventh edition of the festival will have more than 300 artistes from across Africa who will be performing include Kampire, MC Yallah, Otim Alpha, Phatstoki and DJ Travella.
“Finally we are back, with so many fresh acts to present and a growing fan base in East Africa ready to unleash the Nyege Nyege, by pushing toward a more environmentally friendly festival and always more inclusivity, with the new site we feel it opens a new exciting chapter in our story,” the organisers said in a statement.
International artistes expected at the event include DJ Marcelle, Juliana Huxtable and DJ Paypal. Several acts will make the trip from Europe and the US, including Juliana Huxtable, DJ Paypal, DJ Marcelle, Zoë Mc Pherson and Low Jack. In total, around 300 artistes will perform across seven stages.
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The festival will also offer visitors a luxury camping experience in a new area called Nyegeville, which includes hot showers, yoga classes, lockers and a private beach.
To be conscious of the environment, Nyege Nyege will be planting bamboo and use techniques in myco-fabrication to transform mushrooms to help with elements of the festival from stage design to lighting.
In 2019, the Kenyan crowd was well represented, with the “wamlambez, wamnyonyez” chant dominating the fiesta. Performers included Kenyan acts Nazizi, DJ Mufasa, Duma, Mc Yallah and Seeds of Datura. Other notable acts included Ugandans Pallaso, Navio, Lilian Mbabazi and Beenie Gunter.
The events also presented art installations and delicious cuisine, dancers, acrobats, graffiti artists, fortune-tellers and magicians who came together to create one grand adventure that lasted four days.
The following year, the festival hosted a 96-hour digital festival due to restrictions on mass social gatherings in Uganda that was occasioned by Covid-19 pandemic.