9 November 2009
Nairobi — The global economic recession and heavy rains at the Coast may hurt this year's Lamu cultural festival.
Although organisers are upbeat about the event, which kicks off next week, the chairman of the Lamu cultural promotion group, Ghalib Alwy said some sponsors had pulled out while the remaining ones had scaled down their sponsorship.
"Our budget for the event which is normally funded by foreign embassies and other donors is less than we expected," he said.
The festival has a budget of Sh4 million. "This is less by Sh1.7 million of last year which means we have to scale down on some activities," Mr Alwy said.
According to Mr Alwy, the activities that might be affected include the now popular dhow race.
Last year, the chairman in his speech complained of donor fatigue and called on locals to own the event by sponsoring some activities to ensure continuity.
But even as Mr Alwy says the event will go on as planned, hoteliers are anxious about the number of festival visitors after a section of the road was washed away by heavy rains. The repair of the bridge is yet to start.
The festival attracts more than 30,000 people annually, the majority from outside the district.
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