Nyege Nyege Festival Returns After Three Years with its Most Festival to Date

Nyege Nyege Festival Returns After Three Years with its Most Festival to Date

With four days of music and over 300 performers on the shores of the Nile in Uganda, event promises to be a historic edition

Busoga, Uganda, July 21, 2022 — Born out of Kampala’s boiling underground scene and as an extension to its parties, record labels, studios and artist collective, Nyege Nyege Festival is an experience that is considered one of the most important music and arts gatherings in East Africa. Both a life changing experience and an unforgettable party, FACT Magazine called it the best electronic music festival on the planet. Built on Pan-African values and diversity, the festival offers a unique opportunity to dive into the abundance of music from all over East Africa and beyond. Hosting over 300 performers for the four day event, spread across seve stages, from marching bands to hip hop crews, from rising stars to living legends, Nyege Nyege is a totally immersive experience.

For its seventh edition and after a two year hiatus, Nyege Nyege will inaugurate its brand new home, ashore the mighty Itanda Falls in the heart of Busoga region, a few kilometres from Jinja town. While keeping its 2020 promise of inaugurating the Nyege Universe or Nyegeverse, after months of development in partnership with Superficial Machines (Sweden), fans around the world will also be able to experience the festival remotely in groundbreaking ways. Continuing the on-going partnership with online music broadcasting platform Boiler Room, two days of performances taking place on the Hakuna Kulala stage will be accessible to the global Nyege Nyege community via world-wide streaming.

 

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The global pandemic didn’t manage to shut down Nyege Nyege, it made it stronger. For two years Uganda was under total lockdown, but Nyege Nyege did not rest, producing more music than ever and holding a massive hybrid festival followed by over 8 million people in 2020, connecting scenes across the Continent and keeping the movement strong. Today Nyege Nyege has become a planetary phenomenon, with stages at Glastonbury (UK), Primavera (ES), Roskilde (DK), Dour (BE) and mini Nyege festivals in Paris and in Amsterdam, African artists from the collective are riding the wave with over 200 shows around the world, culminating in the 4 day reunion at Itanda Falls in September that will see the best of Afrocentric music from Kampala to Cairo, Paris to Sao Paulo. The excitement throughout East Africa can no longer be contained; the urge is rising day by day as September 15th will mark the comeback of the festival.

Nyege Nyege says: “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”.

 

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New site and sustainability
Invited by His Highness the Kyabazinga (King) Wilberforce III of Busoga and the Busoga Ministry of Tourism, the festival is moving to one of Busoga’s main cultural hotspots: the Itanda Falls. Known for its grade 6 rapids, the majestic waterfalls will be a highlight of the festival, as all adequate security measures are taken by all relevant authorities. By upgrading to a brand new site, Nyege Nyege is confident that it will be able to offer revelers a more comfortable and safe experience, while putting Itanda on the map as one of East Africa’s most exciting tourism destinations. ​

2022 will also mark the official opening of Nyegeville, a city within the festival where revelers will be treated to 5-star camping and glamping facilities, including small lodges overlooking the Nile, experiential camping that will include everything from hot showers to morning yoga classes, safe lockers and even a private beach. Through the Nyegeville experience, the festival aims to foster a camping culture in Uganda that will boost local tourism all year long.

Entering a site 5 times the size of the Nile Discovery Beach will give Nyege Nyege a unique opportunity to further expand on art installations, mind blowing stage design and visual shows bringing both the forest, the Nile and the falls to life at night. The festival is partnering with ADRIFT to offer the best in activities, including a brand new bungee jump, Nile rafting that takes you directly to the festival, paddling, sunset cruises, waterparks and more.

The festival is partnering with ​ TREEPZ to offer affordable and convenient transportation options from the airport, Kampala and Jinja to Itanda falls, making it an easy journey to the festival.

Conscious of its environmental impact, Nyege Nyege is partnering with Bamboo Uganda to offset its carbon emission by planting bamboo, as well as showcasing bamboo based installations and stages to promote further use of bamboo.

Nyege Nyege this year will kick off a long term partnership with the African Center for Radical Mycology, ​ exploring groundbreaking techniques in myco-fabrication and other new applications for mushrooms such as stage design and lighting, as well as providing the local community with new income opportunities related to mushroom growing. Similar to its bamboo initiative, Nyege Nyege wants to leverage its event to further knowledge and economic empowerment.

 

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Program
The festival aims to provide a totally immersive African party experience, diving deep into the cauldron of contemporary African music and its wider diaspora. Known to surprise audiences with rising stars from all over the continent, Nyege Nyege festival will welcome five very significant acts - this year’s artists to watch for: Ghanaian-Nigerian diva Adomaa who will premiere her most recent project at the festival; Kenya’s pop wonderchild and multitalented ​ Kabeaushé who as of late has beenrocking audiences at Europe’s biggest festivals will present “Coming of Gaze” in a burlesque setup; Nigeria’s most lethal MC Aunty Rayzor who is rewriting the codes of afrobeat and carries one of the most unique flows coming from Nigeria's boiling underground rap scene; a live percussive thunderstorm from Uganda - Arsenal Mikebe who will be joined by East Africa’s biggest stars - Palasso, Ugandan dancehall idol - Cindy Sanyu, Kenyan Genegeton favorite - Sylvia Saru; one of the last living legends and pioneers of contemporary African music - ​ His Majesty Eko Roosevelt will perform with a 15 piece band to celebrate his 80th birthday. Nyege Nyege superstars Kampire, MC Yallah, Otim Alpha will join the line-up along with Dutch underground heavyweights Munchi, De Schuurman and festival resident DJ Marcelle, Egyptian underground legends Yunis, KZLK, Assyoutii and DJ Znobia - one of Angola’s kuduro pioneers who will be performing outside his country for the first time in 15 years. France’s most notorious party collective Maraboutage will join Clara and Low Jack for their Nyege debut, the Tanzanian phenomenon who has been hailed as one of the world’s most dangerous selectors - DJ Travella, the whole Jokkoo collective, US DJ Paypal, Quest?onmark and Juliana Huxtable, Tokyo’s gqom collective and South Africa’s Phatstoki, Rude Boyz, Phelimuncasi and Menzi. In addition expect a showcase of diverse selection of traditional Ugandan music such as the Nakibembe Embaire troupe who has brought the Embaire xylophone to global recognition. The festival will also welcome performance art collective KINACT who will bring their collective to the festival. As every year Nyege Nyege invites Uganda’s biggest stars, including Navio and DJ Zato as well as the best of Kampala, Nairobi and Rwanda’s DJs including Nasselow, Selector Jay, MGM, Alisha, DJ Manwinch, DJ Kaneda, Binghi, Northern Ghana’s FRA!, and many more.

 

 

 

 

 

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