This November 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the wildest, once spontaneous, unapologetic, frightening, scary, mesmerising, influential musical festival of all. If any dichotomy comes to your mind, just name it. And please, once in a lifetime (Talking Heads anyone?), pack your t-shirts and shorts, put on your worst distressed sneakers (no Golden Goose lol) and head there, Itanda Falls, on the banks of the Nile River. Be prepared on a possible rainy and muddy evening, most likely warmed by the sun and blissed by a beautiful sunset watching the river waters flow.
I attended Nyege Nyege September 2022, to experience the weirdest happening in my career of concerts/festivals participant. A mix of naïveté and micro criminality (my smartphone was stolen, don’t ever bring it with you!) music and dance (54 tribes in Uganda and each one with their own personal sound), beat of drums and African hip-hop, experimentations, beers and something else…
Nyege Nyege ran spontaneously, like those wild herbs that grow ugly and unattractive, just when you realise the smell of it.. wow! From scratch, community driven, rave parties, dj’s and local drifters of Kampala, pariah that wanted to spread out other than commercial music and stay underground: This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco… mostly this ain’t no Coachella, not even Afrochella, the Ghanaian version. Don’t expect Instagrammable shots (again, don’t bring your phone…) or mini-skirt/slashed jeans trends, enhance your spirit rather and elevate your mind to enjoy and breathe authentic vibe, no need to testimony any of this on social media. This is a raucous, chaotic, free happening. Too free I admit. On September 2018 edition, Simon Lokodo, Uganda ethic and integrity Minister, wrote a letter to the country Internal Affairs Minister calling for the cancellation. Stating that “the purpose of this festival in the last years has been compromised to accommodate the celebration and recruitment of young people into homosexuality and LGBTQ movement”. Luckily, the government realised that the benefit to tourism was palpable, and the festival was allowed to go ahead.
Will I go to 10th celebration? Presumably not. I’d rather stay with those bittersweet memories, I may turn disappointed in repeating such a mighty and uncomfortable night. Once in a lifetime. This is an open invitation to you.