Rwanda will this year host the first edition of the EAC Arts and Culture Festival, the event is slated to take place from 27 October to 4 November 2012.

The EAC Arts and Culture Festival comes to life following a decision by the 23rd Council of Ministers meeting held in Arusha in September 2011 to have the region host regular arts and culture festivals.

"All Partner States should give their support to the event and actively participate in the Festival, private sector, civil society organizations should actively participate" Hon. Jesca Eriyo, EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors says.

She also added, EAC population should take advantage of the festival to display their talents and learn from East Africa's diverse, rich and interesting culture.

The cultural festival aims at fostering East African cultural identity that depicts the traditional and typical life of East Africans. Future festival hosting will be rotating through the participating countries.

The festival is expected to illustrate EAC cultural unity, diversity and to create an enabling environment for the promotion and development of arts and creative industries as a viable tool for sustainable socio-economic development.

The festivals will in the long run contribute greatly towards the promotion of cultural tourism as well as conservation, safeguarding and development of cultural heritage.

The theme of this year's festival is, 'Deepening Integration through Culture and Creative Industries' with the main objective of bringing artistes and East Africans together to dialogue, learn, exchange, network, and celebrate the region's rich and diverse cultural heritage.

The first edition of the Festival targets a minimum of 3,000 visitors, staying an average of 10 days with an average expenditure of USD 70 per day. This would generate visitor expenditure of 2.1 million USD.

In addition, the Festival is expected to generate short term and indirect employment especially for the young people aged 20-35 years and provide an additional fillip to ancillary sectors like the media and hospitality sectors.