Revelers having a good time at Nyege Nyege festival in Jinja. PHOTO/DENIS EDEMA
As you read this review, probably me and a few friends are still somewhere in Jinja making final payments at the hotels, putting on our best impression and trying to convince whoever cares that in Kampala, we are not as wasted as they may believe. Nyege Nyege Festival is one event that has divided opinion in Uganda from many points, yet, every year, it bounces back with a bit of everything, performances, culture, fashion, food and the people. This year’s edition still took place at the Jinja Golf Course, becoming the second time in three years the festival has taken place in the same venue. But of course so much changed with the venue, this was further in the deep.
When the event was started in 2015, Nyege Nyege was anchored on brilliant performing DJs, singers and traditional artistes, some of these were international while others were locally based mainly from the parties the organisers had been putting together for years.Thus, everything that Nyege Nyege musically stood for at the time was something out of this world, it was something you would never catch on mainstream radio. Which became the cornerstone of the festival, people would show up for the experience not for who would be on stage. However, things evolve and so has the festival. Today, the better part of DJs and non mainstream performances are on Hakuna Kulala and Dark Star stages. The mainstage and other stages such as Uganda Waragi’s stage which are the biggest attraction feature a lot of mainstream artistes these days with just a few new sounds. For instance this year, the mainstage featured artistes such as Zex Bilangilangi, Pia Pounds, Recho Ray or Nigeria’s Chocolate City who in the older spirit of the festival could have hardly got onto the main stage. The festival thus struggles to stay true to it’s electronic music afro electronic roots while balancing with sounds that ordinary Ugandan party lovers would enjoy during a show. Thus for every performance by Benti Boys for instance, there’s a Mostafa from Sudan or Papalass Rebellion.
With all the curation of the stages, this year’s best stage from Thursday to Sunday was the Hakuna Kulala stage, one of the stages that remain true to the Nyege Nyege sound. Over the years, it’s a stage many Ugandans avoided yet this time around, most of them could hardly resist the sound. It was the only stage that started the party and did not go silent. From Jeff the Last Born, Kamali and Acid Pauli, the stage was experimental and served lots of distorted pop music, thus, there was always something familiar with the music played but sounded different. It was also the most recommended stage through the festival.The main stage came to life with a number of performances by refugees from Sudan, doing varied genres such as terab, pop and reggae; they were such a fantastic addition to the festival. Then there were local artistes such as Elijah Kitaka and Kenneth Mugabi.
Mugabi performed earlier and his ballads managed to get the girls to the grounds to sing along to songs such as Sanyu, Nkwegomba and Naki. For Mugabi, it wasn’t the fact that they knew the songs but the passion with which they sang, some ladies cried while others had their hands up singing to every word as if it was praise and worship.Spyda MC’s all local instrument troupe was the festival’s masterclass. Being a rapper, replacing a DJ and band with drums and a xylophone was organic and very original. While Elijah Kitaka remembered his pre-Swangz reggae days while doing his set on Saturday night. He performed three songs from his Son of Kaloli debut album such as Muliro, Right or Wrong and Me and You, all the songs have dancehall and reggae influences and often get the audience engaged. But he still had to perform Dawa to cap the performance. This year served a balance with the curation on stage and the fringe stages. The biggest win for the festival was the city activities that included cultural and fashion showcases. The most anticipated was Kwetu Kwanza, a fashion collective event that was promoting sustainability fashion.
Unlike last year’s edition, this Nyege Nyege took place in a smaller and collected space which made navigation easier but less adventurous. Since leaving Nile Discovery in 2019, Nyege Nyege has tried to recapture the magic the venue offered but only Itanda Falls came close to solving the puzzle. The two editions at the Golf Course have been drastically painful to navigate either to the venue or in the venue. This year, with many things tied up in the same place, sounds were almost competing and it came off as a picnic.
SAFETY
Multiple checks Of course, coming off a terror threat last year, the security was heightened, which ensured safety but diminished the experience even before one got to the grounds. For instance, one had to be checked about five times, that wasn’t a bad thing, but security went as far as dismissing audiences.
