To say that this year's Nyege Nyege festival ended on a high, would be an understatement, especially if you have attended the past two editions post the Covid-19 pandemic.
The festival took place November 14-17, at Jinja Golf Course organized by Talent Africa Group. From the previous venues - Source of the Nile and Itanda Falls, where revellers had to trek kilometres of distance from stage to stage, the Afrogalactic carnival, as it was dubbed took festival-goers back to the good old days of Nyege Nyege at Nile Discovery resort, almost the size of this year's venue - Jinja Golf Course.
Day one of the festival started off underwhelmingly, with just a few festival-goers coming in. If you have attended the past editions of the festival, however, this should not be a shocker to you. Apart from the service providers, and a few early revellers, the majority of who were foreigners, day one had nothing much to miss out on.
The Uganda Waragi stage had a few performances, mainly from cultural troupes from across the country, kicking off with Nile Beats and Imagine cultural group which kicked off the action at 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm respectively.
At 7:00 pm, the Bwindi Bates dancers brought the cultural heat to the stage, with an array of cultural dances, especially from the southwestern part of Uganda. Their performance sort of livened up the mood, raising anticipation for day two.
The Dark Star stage took over the wee hours of day one, with a line-up heavily infested with international acts. At 11:00, Mazin Peter took to the stage to entertain those who appreciated his form of art in music. Without much excitement from the audience, Peter was followed by Violence Gratuite from France, K-zungu, Bamba Pana and Kadilida, all from Tanzania.
To usher the few revellers into day two, the Reggae stage proved more vibrant. From Uganda, DJ NK took partiers through a deep Reggae playlist for a whole hour, slowing down the tempo with lovers' rock and a blend of roots reggae. DJ Casia Wiz and Zion DJ, Ras Tendo, all from Uganda, followed with their playlists and closed the night in an irie style.
Day two took the party higher
Having started off on a sluggish note, with just a handful of revellers thronging the venue, it was hard to imagine that the party would take a vibrant turn, later in the night.
The Talent Africa stage attempted to scale up the hype, with Amapiano music, and indeed, the DJs there did a commendable job. However, for the party-hungry people, it was still not enough. For the lovers of the now famous binyanya sound, Jinja's Decimal Point, with his mobile disco, has something for you, as you get ready for DJ Ssuuna Ben on Day 3.
On day 2, the actual party was at the Uganda Waragi stage. From reggae, Afrobeat, Caribbean, and Hip-hop to anything that could make one dance their feet swollen, this stage was what everyone yearned for.
Despite the action that was taking place on the main stage, which was just a few metres away, it was hard to ignore the lit party going on at the Uganda Waragi stage. Celebrities - Kasuku, MC Kats, and Patrick Salvador, all flocked in to share the energy of this particular stage.
Speaking of celebrities, East African Affairs minister - Rebecca Kadaga also made her way into the venue, at 8:00 pm on day 2, making a visit to the Uganda Waragi stage, where she was gifted with a Lemon & Ginger bottle, lauding her for the unwavering support towards the existence of Nyege Nyege festival.
After 10:00 pm, attention would switch to the main stage, where rapper Spyda MC stepped up to serve his fans with hip-hop on live traditional instruments. He performed songs like Kyaddala, Birooto, and Abantu Mukisa among others.
MC Jokwiz Clean continued with his prowess on the microphone, entertaining the crowd as DJ Tony took the crowd back in time with old Ugandan music. Tony's mix lasted for an hour until Zex Bilangilangi stepped on stage to crown the night in perfect Nyege Nyege style.
With his unmatched energy, it did not matter that the crowd had already seen him on stage, earlier, during his sound check session. Zex came in with Magazine, arguably one of his biggest club bangers. He got the crowd uncontrollably excited, setting the mood right Party Yani, 2019, Nalinda and Number Emu, among other hit songs of his.
Day three
Day three of the festival, however, was proof that the organisers were not ready for the numbers that would attack the venue, save for the security team that did a commendable job. This time, unlike last year's Nyege Nyege, cases of robbery, and lost items were not as many. From the first checkpoint to the last entry point, you had to go through rigorous checks manned by Uganda Police and bouncers, something that made it hard for criminals to have a field day.
Back to the festival, unlike normally, the number of most sought-after stages this time was limited to only the Uganda Waragi stage, the main stage and the Talent Africa stage. The rest of the stages, including the dark star stage, which as always, had only a few revellers who appreciate abstract art, could not hold anything beyond 50 revellers.
By 4:00 pm on day three, one could already tell that the numbers would be overwhelming, with hundreds travelling from wherever on top of the many that had already flocked in.
The rain, this time, was not about to relent; it rained from 6:00 pm until late in the wee hours of the night. But this meant nothing to the determined partiers who could stop at nothing to enjoy a good Nyege Nyege party. At least 11,320 bottles of free drinking water were given throughout the festival.
This was through UBL's Red Card campaign, a strategic initiative aimed towards promoting positive drinking among consumers and creating a more inclusive and sustainable environment through which the business operates during the festival. At the Uganda Waragi stage, DJs took turns as they kept everyone on their feet, dancing, drinking and sharing in the merry of the moment.
If you left the festival without a new dance move or two, just give up on learning. Action on the main stage did not get exceedingly exciting, until 10:15 pm, when Afro-soul musician Kenneth Mugabi stepped up with his band. Musically armed with his guitar, Mugabi, who had a huge crowd cheering him on, treated fans to some of his music, both new and old, known and least known.
The lovers in the audience did not hold back when it came to basking in the love moment inspired by Mugabi's music. For any Ugandan looking to secure a white partner, this was the moment to savour. From Janzi, Keep It Under Wraps, Wamanyiza Nkwegomba, to Sanyu and Naki, Mugabi lit the stage up. The crowd had to stop him from leaving the stage twice, until 11:00 pm, when he finally had to step away.
The next performers, a band from South Sudan, were not known to many, hence reducing the numbers. Later in the night, one of the most-anticipated acts - Elijah Kitaka, raised the tempo even higher. Lately, besides his music, Kitaka can be identified by his peculiar sense of fashion.
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He came dressed in a ragged-like shirt with brown baggy pants, exciting the ladies and those who appreciate his style. Back to his music, Kitaka started off with Tippy Toe, a groovy song that had the crowd dancing from the star. He would follow that up with some of his music least-known music before he set in with Nothing, and the crowd's favourite - Dawa.
Performing with the Double Black band, the Swangz Avenue artiste also performed in a couple of songs off the label's latest All-Star album. After the urban pop feel from Kitaka, it was time to drastically switch sounds to the local kinyanyanyanya sound by DJ Ssuuna Ben, as late as 5:00 am.
15 minutes into his set, the crowd had already started plucking and breaking tree branches and leaves, waving them up in the air. It didn't matter whether you were an urban dweller, a first-time Nyege Nyege reveller from Europe, or had come from the slums of Katwe, the Ssuuna Ben sound hit everyone to the ground.
By 8:00 am on Sunday morning, the soggy grounds of Jinja Golf Course were still being hit by the tired legs of a few revellers who just could not leave the venue yet.
Tired, and drunk, but the party still had to go, until the music was switched off to allow everyone to step out for a security sweep. Wailing and staggering out of the venue, the Nyege Nyege diehards finally said goodbye to what proved to be one of the best editions since the Covid-19-induced lockdown.
From all sorts of fashion trends, some of which were a first at this year's edition, to the diversity in race, colour and nationality, the festival was the true embodiment of what Nyege Nyege stands for.
