Party of the year: Ugandans love the beach and this Sunday Lido Beach in particular will be the place to be as more than 100 entertainers grace the purple party. Isaac Ssejjombwe writes.
Douglas Lwanga is not your usual face at theme parties around city hangouts and barely does he attend concerts, yet by virtue of his interactive entertainment TV show The Beat that airs on NTV, he enjoys huge viewer support. This is perhaps the reason the programme is ranked among the best entertainment shows in the country.
However, Douglas started holding an annual event dubbed Purple party where he meets his fans and stakeholders as a way of paying them back for the endless love and support. In its fourth year, the event at Lido Beach this Sunday, promises great things.
The much anticipated event has more than 100 performers lined up, and when asked how he was able to convince all of them, Douglas said, “I’ve been a music host for more than eight years and during that time have been playing different artistes’ music, so my relationship with them has grown over time.”
He added that performances will start at 2pm and will go on till 11pm but there will also be other activities like a boat cruise, nyama chyoma, swimming and beach games among others early in the morning. He insisted that this year’s party is different because it is going to be an outdoor event where people will not be limited to certain activities and will definitely not be congested unlike the previous three events; twice at Bulldog Wandegeya and once at Venom where the crowd had exceeded the capacity of the venue.
The other thing to look forward to is that singers Jose Chameleone and Juliana who have been tagged as non-performers at this event will also sing on Sunday. Some of the other big names expected to perform include Bebe Cool, Bobi Wine, Sheebah, Pallaso, Goodlyf, David Lutalo, King Saha, Maro, Eddy Kenzo, Gravity, Cindy, Naira Ali, APass and Mun G.
Lido beach has always had issues with security but Douglas has assured us that security is tight. “Prominent no-nonsense security guru Dickson Okello and another friend of mine, Phillip who manned D’Banj’s show as well as the just-concluded Abryanz fashion awards, are the people in charge of security. They have been in the game for long and manned some of the most difficult events in Uganda. I believe with them in charge, nothing can go wrong. There will also be policemen patrolling the beach, so let that not stop you from enjoying the show,” he said.
The presenter gave us an insight on next year’s event, saying it is going to change name and other regions will get the feel of it. “The purple party has grown bigger but starting next year we are going to do regions, where we will visit different parts of the country but under a new name. Next year’s campaign will be named ‘Beats and Beer purple party’ and if it is successful, we might take it to other East African countries,” Douglas said.