Unique street festival thrills city residents

Revelers at the PAWA street festival on Koinange Street, Nairobi. (Photo: George Orido)

Nairobians had fun day that extended late into the night Sunday when musicians, poets, acrobats, dancers, painters and graffiti artists converged on Koinange Street for the first ever Pawa Festival.

The air was somewhat cool, thanks to the downpours that have pounded the city recently.

Street Dance Kenya wowed the audience with energetic contemporary dance moves in a mix of hip-hop and B-Boy styles that lifted spirits.

"The fact that this is an open air event, makes it different because of the huge audience," said King, group leader of the ten young dancers, whose performance was received with huge applause.

Afro-fusion singer Sally Oyugi joined hands with Lekko Children to give a powerful performance called Chelegese. The children live in a charity home that she runs.

Chelegese is a song about a man whose eye for his neighbours' spouses has reached alarming rates and thus has become a thorn in the flesh of hard working men in the village who go out to fend for their families.

In the song, Sally asks her audience whether they have what it takes to reach the apex of their lives.

Giovanni Liyingi from Uganda had a rich repertoire of Baganda songs that kept the audience on their toes as they danced the day away in the most jovial and carnival mood that has been witnessed in the streets of Nairobi in recent years.

Liyingi took the audience through the paces of Nikwesuunga (Waiting for Someone), Ssemussaje (The Village), Buddu (Our Stories) and Everything.

"This is a nice day as we come together as Easy Africans to celebrate our heritage," he said amid applause at the event organised by Pawa 254, an organisation associated with human rights activist and photographer Boniface Mwangi.

Nairobbery

Dembede Mido, popularly known as Checkmate Mido, thrilled the fans with his witty spoken-word verse Nairobbery.

New kids on the block Zikki Kenya, impressed with their songs Take It Slow, Pesa Onge and Murang'a.

A stand up comedian who was present as a fan was impressed by the event.

"I am so thrilled to be here and it is such a unifying factor to have  street festival in Nairobi where you have people of all walks and ages coming together to celebrate," said US Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec, whose casual attire made him almost anonymous but MC Obinna let the cat out of the bag when he announced his presence.

Mr Godec said that in the US, street festivals are a common feature. He said the festival made him feel at home and encouraged Kenyans to have more of the same.

Other acts slated for the night included Ohanglaman Makadem, Teardrops, Octave Band, Sarabi and Blinky Bill.

But the man who captured the whole event was Richard Muchomba. The artist painted the events in real time.