A Trip Down The Pearl Of Africa

JANET AYARA tells us about her Ugandan experience at the Nyege Nyege Festival and around Jinja town.

- Janet Ayara

I had never been to Uganda and I often wondered how The Pearl of Africa looked like. I imagined the buildings would be in the style of colonial architecture, the landscape a tapestry of colour and geographical features teeming with wildlife. I imagined red dirt roads with lush green grass against a backdrop of the roaring sounds of the Nile. I also envisioned an array of thriving African art and cultural scenes. My one-week escapade in Uganda confirmed most of my assumptions. Uganda is true, divine.

My main agenda on my Uganda trip was a four-day International Music Festival, Nyege Nyege. Dubbed ‘Uganda’s Burning Man Festival’, the fun-filled, adventurous and artsy event organized by Talent Africa, promotes international underground music and culture. The annual event is held every year in September at the Nile Discovery Beach in Jinja, and it is definitely the biggest festival in East Africa so far.

The event featured performances from hundreds of artists and thousands of attendees from across the globe who were stationed on various stages, namely; The Main Stage, Bell Jamz, Eternal Disco, Dark Star, 154 stage and the Boiler Room stage which was beamed live on Boiler Room TV. The Uganda Experience Stage featured a silent disco and lots of fun games. The location was a forest on the shores of River Nile and trying to locate the stages initially made me feel like I was trying to find my way out of a maze but I eventually got the hang of it. An intricate wonderland is how I would describe my exhausting walk along the many pathways.

In Uganda, the term ‘Nyege’ means ‘an uncontrollable urge to dance; when you get so carried away by the rhythm’. Well, I, for sure, had an irresistible compulsion to dance all night long during those four days. ‘Ekyinyegenyege’- the Baganda would say.