Culture: Kisumu ready for Festac Festival

Kisumu’s will host the fifth edition of the World Blacks and Africans Festival of Arts and Culture (Festac) later this month, running from May 20 to 26.

Preparations for the global festival are in top gear in yet another iconic moment to place Kisumu on the world map as a center for arts. It will give Kisumu’s rich fortunes in arts and culture a massive boost. 

The move is also calculated at strengthening cultural tourism in the region.

It comes barely two years after the region also hosted thousands of delegates from across the globe during the Africities festival.

Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o said the city has put in place all the necessary arrangements ahead of the four-day cultural event that will begin on May 20.

“We are very prepared, as you know this is not the first time we’re hosting such an important event. We have a committee that has been working on it, the participants are known and the facilities are available,” Governor Nyong’o said.

He described the festival as an incredible opportunity to reignite the discussion on the need to prioritise culture as a necessity for growth and development.

“Arts and culture are very important for development. We want our children to grow up knowing what African culture is and embrace it fully,” he added.

The region is optimistic that the festival will also unlock windows of opportunities for investments.

“After the Festac event we hope to see the participants return not only to explore our rich tourism but also to invest and do business with our country,” he said.

Since he came into office, the County Chief who breathes Arts in his spine and is the father to award-winning Hollywood star Lupita Nyong’o has made several efforts to transform Kisumu’s Arts.

In the build-up to Festac festivals, the county this week concluded the Fish Fiesta that brought together talented youths across the county.

The youths showcased various skills including traditional dances, boat racing, songs and beauty contests.

At the core of the revival of Kisumu’s arts is the revamp of Mama Grace Onyango hall, which will host this year’s Festac festival.

About six years ago, the centre was eerily desolate. Some of the buildings were a hideout for thieves while piles of garbage was the order of the day.

Today, however, the centre is the pillar of Kisumu’s iconic arts after undergoing a major transformation.

“We have revived Grace Onyango Social Center which had been dead, we rebuilt it and brought in an active manager in a bid to revive arts and culture in this county which has been the bedrock of arts not only in Kenya but in Africa,” the governor said.

The festival’s organizing community told The Standard that they settled on Kisumu because of its vibrant cultural heritage.

Festac Africa Festival’s CEO Grace Mumo listed the city’s vibrant cultural heritage, coupled with its geographical location, as the key factors that attracted the organizers to Kisumu.

Lake Victoria, which connects the city to neighbouring countries was another.

Nyong’o’s County Executive Committee Member for culture Beatrice Wadiaga said  the county is already shortlisting its participants in various categories through the county’s own cultural extravaganza dubbed Kisumu Arts and Cultural Festival.

The event is taking place in the sub-counties.

“We have invited other counties and embassies to come and showcase their cultures during the festival. I want to encourage everyone in the world to come and join us and have a taste of arts and culture,” she said. 

Her comments were echoed by Victor Nyagaya, the CEO of the Lake Region Economic Block (LREB), which brings together the 14 counties from the region.

He said the Festac event will be an opportunity for the African people to gather together and chat about their cultural path.

“We are expecting a team of people from different parts of Africa and even beyond Africa because the black people, the African people have a rich culture that is spread all over the world,” he said.