Seeking the bright side of Kenya apart from the Safaris, then explore the real African culture through these Kenya Festivals.
What are the most watched Kenya festivals?
Kenya festival is the top notch in the East of Africa. There are different types of festivals and events from cultural, traditional, Safari events, carnivals, just to mention few. Some of the popular names widely witnessed include the following;
- Lamu Cultural Festival
Several times in the year, Lamu Island comes alive with cultural festivals that attract visitors in droves. The Lamu Cultural Festival is one of the best attended community-based cultural festivals in Kenya. The aim is to promote the rich Swahili culture, and open up the archipelago to outsiders.
Lamu Cultural Festival takes place in November. This 3 days festival is meant to give visitors a taste of Swahili life. The activities include dhow sailing races, donkey races, traditional henna paintings, numerous poetry readings, music performances and competitive Bao games.
The “Bao Game” is regarded as one of the oldest games in history with evidence showing that it has been played in the region for thousands of year.
The most unforgettable events of the festival are the dhow race and the donkey races. These competitions stem from the culture of the Lamu people. Donkeys are ubiquitous features of Lamu Island, and the race was one of the highlights of the festival. Riders train for the whole year preparing for the event. They lined up at the starting point and were flagged off, donkey jockeys urged their animals along as they ran along the streets of Lamu.
Tourists and locals cheered on their favorite riders and donkeys, and even bet on this hilariously entertaining spectacle. Being a winning donkey jockey requires a specific set of skills. As with most such races, small physical stature is helpful, but keeping a stubborn donkey moving and on course requires a definite talent?
The dhow race and the swimming competition are another important part of the festival. These cultural competitions show how living on an Island requires different kind of skills.
Enjoy women performing the Taarab music during the day untill its end in the Lamu Town square in a big community reunion event. Lamu Cultural Festivals are a celebration of both the past and the future, and the beliefs and traditions that are the heart and soul of this community.
Most visitors of the Island fall in love with this relaxed and peaceful lifestyle, and visiting during the Lamu Cultural Festival is a chance to experience Lamu life at its most exuberant and joyous.
- Mombasa Carnival festival
The Mombasa Carnival is the biggest and most engaging festival in Kenya and is organised by the Ministry of Tourism. The event which usually takes place in November revolves around two parades which converge on Moi Avenue with Mombasa’s multicultural communities represented by floats, costumes, music and dance.
- Safaricom International Jazz Festival
Safaricom International Jazz Festival is one of the most revered music festival in Kenya. The aim is to bring the first of a kind Jazz Festival in Kenya at an affordable cost that will give Kenyans from all walks of life an opportunity to sample timeless music that is jazz. The festival has showcased the best emerging and acclaimed talents from Africa and beyond.
Safaricom international Jazz Festival has seen great international artists like Richard Bona of Rhythm Junks in Belgium, Yuval Cohen from Israel performing on the same stage with other great local artists.
- International Camel Derby and Festival
The Maralal International Camel Derby is one of the more unique travel experiences in Kenya and it is held annually, around midyear, just outside of Maralal Town; it is a great attraction for many visitors and locals alike. Kenya’s Northern Frontier is a wild and untamed region, where people still wander with the seasons, and where one of the continent’s unique events happens every year, the Maralal International Camel Derby. Maralal Town is a simple dusty town set on a hillside, in Samburu County. It is a thriving centre for the local Samburu, the streets are always busy with passing camels, brightly dressed warriors and traders.
The annual race in Maralal attracts riders and spectators from far and wide. It’s a race for professionals and amateurs alike, all vying for first position. The camel race starts in the centre of town, where a mass of heaving, ungainly camels, jostle for their place in history. Some run backwards, others off to the side, it is a melee of chaos noise excitement and colour. The more professional riders manage to race past the line of spectators heading for the finish line.
If camel riding is not for you there is also a bike race or a 10 Km running race, where you can take in the spectacular landscape of the Samburu County as you compete over a demanding course. The bike race attracts a mixture of world class bikes and local amateurs, on bikes that don’t always manage to see the finish line.
The town is also bustling with traditional dances and is like a cultural show but for real. This desert town becomes a kaleidoscope of colours, noise and fashion as locals and tourist meet and share a fun, action packed cultural experience. It is on for only one day a year, but if you are in Kenya at that time – Don’t miss it, come and experience Samburu Culture at its best.
- Rhino Charge Festival
Rhino Charge Festival trip encompasses the best that Kenya has to offer and showcases her diverse beauty and wonderful people and landscapes! The Rhino Charge is an annual Kenyan off-road event in which competitors, in the most amazing off-road vehicles, are required to visit 13 points scattered over approximately 100 square kms of rough and challenging terrain within a 10 hour period.
The actual location of the event is a closely guarded secret, with people only finding out days prior to the event! This protects the terrain and prevents people from practicing on it. The Aberdares National Park is a sanctuary for the endangered Black Rhino and an important water catchment area providing water to the Tana and Athi rivers, Kenya’s main rivers.
The Rhino Charge Festival is a truly unique event, both sporting and social. Hundreds of spectators head into the bush to watch the event, setting up campsites and starting off early to get to the Gauntlet (a combination of 2 or 3 checkpoints that invariably involve river crossings and other difficult obstacles).
This adventure around Kenya simply offers the best that Kenya has. It’s a mixture of activities and relaxation in stunning environments, with an amazing team to look after you and promises to be fascinating and a lot of fun! You’ll be amazed at the sights, sounds and vibrancy of this fascinating country and her people and wildlife.
- Lake Turkana Festival
Lake Turkana festival is an important element of Kenya’s event celebrated annually among the communities of Loiyangalani. The festival features unique performances and demonstrations of ten ethnic communities which live in the Lake Turkana region. The communities include El Molo, Rendille, Samburu, Turkana, Dassanach, Ghabra, Borana, Konso, Wata and Burji.
Turkana Festival therefore also provides a unique chance to set foot on unchartered territory and reach out to new markets which are just waiting to be explored. At first glance, this sounds like a light cultural entertainment programme but the the three days event serves a deeper purpose: in a region which – for most of the year – makes headlines with issues such as security concerns, famine, environmental challenges, lack of infrastructure and fights among various ethnic communities, the Lake Turkana Festival gives the participating communities an opportunity for cross-cultural interaction, cooperation and exchange, both the preparation and in the course of the Festival. The underlying main goal therefore has been and continues to be promoting peace and reconciliation.
For Kenyans as well as for Expatriates, the presentation of the customs and living conditions of the ten tribes, their spectacular traditional costumes, arts and crafts, dances and music is a unique and fascinating experience – in particular in light of the stunning geographical characteristics and the limited general knowledge about the Lake Turkana region.
Beyond the presentation of cultural dances and traditions of the participating communities, the festival also focuses on economic development. The Festival, however, attracts not only individual visitors but it also offers a very special opportunity for partners from the private sector as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations. The whole Turkana region has until recently been marginalized politically and economically.
- Rift Valley Music Festival
The Rift Valley Festival is one of East Africa’s largest annual three day music festival. This festival is held at the Fisherman’s Camp brings to you a live music experience right on the shores of Lake Naivasha.
The Festival celebrates globally sourced bands, musicians and DJs that makes Lake Naivasha come alive to the sound of diverse music styles and genres that create the greatest party in East Africa each year. It’s not just music but true celebration of the rich culture and people of Kenya through the ever growing family of visual artists, poets, dancers and craftsmen that splash the festival with colour, energy, tradition and knowledge to make this festival so special and unique.
Visit this website for more information on the festival and ticket outlets.
- Maulidi Festival
The Maulidi festival is held annually during the month of June or in the Muslim calendar. The festival filled the old town of Lamu pleasure which converge African communities of the East for the occasion. Lamu is declared a World Heritage site has managed to retain its traditions.
The word Maulidi translated in Arabic means “birth”. The festival celebrates the month of birth of the Prophet Muhammad. Different countries have unique ways of celebrating Maulidi but they all have one main theme that is similar to the veneration of the Prophet Muhammad. The first of this celebration is supposed to have taken place in Egypt some 400 years after the death of the Prophet Mohammed in Mecca and after that saw the celebration then thrive in the world and which take place each year. The mosque was Riyadha become the place where the main religious celebrations take place today.
The official celebrations of Maulidi festival in Lamu lasts for four days with a gala sponsored by the National Museums of Kenya since the 1990s. The most important of the day being the 11th day of Rabi al-Awwal at sunset to the dawn of the 12th the day of the birth of the prophet, Songs, parades, prayers, if you want an overview of the festival, prefer the last day, usually sees the best men of Lamu gather at the cemetery of the city and around the town of Habib Swaleh where they have silent prayers and after an energetic parade in town, hand in hand for a procession that winds along the seafront towards the center of the city has culminated with the singing and dancing crowd in unison in a spirit of brotherhood.
- Pawa festival
PAWA Festival is an art and culture festival in Kenya. The festival which has become famous and vibrant arts and culture in Kenya, publicly showcase and promote local and regional innovative urban art and culture to new audiences across the city and the country.
Just like the chalewote festival in Ghana, the Pawa festival creates the platforms and opportunities for artistic expression and growth in Nairobi.
The festival features live graffiti installations, art exhibitions, crafts, spoken word, rap, dance performances and exhibition stalls that highlights our East African creative industry.
With live performances from well established and emerging artists alike, the festival provides a space for artists to share their work and engage with an active audience on a wider platform.
Where to stay while on visit for Kenya festivals?
See upcoming Pawa festival here
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