Nairobi News

With plans at an advanced stage for Sol Fest 2024 which is slated to take place in the last week of December, singer Bien-Aime Baraza has revealed more details about the festival including how much money artists who will be performing will earn.
Unlike previous editions, this year’s Sol Fest, a brainchild of Sauti Sol, will be a two-day festival that will be held from December 19-20.

Tickets for the VIP experience will cost Sh20,000 while the general fan show ticket will go for Sh3,000.
The Sauti Sol singer says this year’s event will be different in many ways.
“For many years, I have felt that Kenyan music doesn’t get premium production. Let me explain. For example, at the last Sol Fest, we had 40 rehearsals, that’s why the production was amazing in terms of stage, sound, lights, and performances. That’s why we were able to present Kenyan music to Kenyans in a world-class way. This year we want to do more,” says Bien.

Last year’s Sol Fest was all about Sauti Sol, who were the only performers of the event as they marked their last performance as a group before taking an indefinite hiatus.
“Last year we played every Sauti Sol song we ever released for four hours. This year the idea was to have different acts. Initially, we had thought of bringing in foreign artists and mixing them with other Kenyan acts.” Bien reveals.

But the decision changed later.
“Initially the idea was to bring in foreign artists for Sol Fest because the essence of our festival is not to be just for the local market. We have to think globally. But then we thought why spend Sh22 million booking foreign artists to perform here instead of paying the same to our Kenyan artists to perform for us? We thought it would be wise to give our local artists jobs instead and give back to our community that has supported Sauti Sol,” he adds.

March this year while hosted on the Iko Nini Podcast, Bien shed light on the financial success of last year’s edition.,
“After Sauti Sol did Sol Fest, ticket sales alone generated around Sh70 million, with merchandise bringing in another Sh10 million or so. With sponsorships, the total revenue hit Sh100 million.”

This year Sol Fest will have two different sets of Kenyan acts.
“Set one will just be all the Arbantone music hits with their artists performing with live bands, dancers, we will even have mathrees on stage. It will be a full production of everything that represents the Arbantone culture,” Bien emphasizes.

The second set will be all about Kenyan rhumba music, from modern rhumba music by the likes of Okello Max, and Watendawili to the previous generation of rhumba artists the likes of Les Wanyika, and Them Mushrooms, both of whom are also set to perform as guest appearance.