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The event is to be a celebration of Pan-African diversity under the theme ‘Afrogalactic Carnival’ that will aim to combine future forward music with ancestral traditions, highlighting Uganda’s natural beauty and rich tapestry of cultures. The festival will also once again showcase the diversity of Ugandan traditional music with traditional acts coming from all over the country. Uganda is known worldwide for being a host to refugee communities from across the East African region, and this year Nyege Nyege will showcase the many talents in exile in Uganda, including Sudanese, Congolese, Eritrean, Burundian and Ethiopian artists.
It will also feature a series of cultural pavilions and stages that showcase music, fashion, food and culture from different parts of East Africa and the Continent, echoing Uganda’s global reputation as one of the world’s most hospitable countries. Festival organisor Derek Debru said he was delighted that the event would be returning for a ninth year and encouraged to book tickets early while they remain on sale at a discounted price. “Nyege Nyege aims to reflect Uganda’s hospitality and cultural diversity, advocating for peace and an insatiable thirst for a good time, which is the exact definition of Nyege Nyege in Uganda,” he said. Currently representation at the event will include curated showcases from Sudan, South Africa, Ivory Coast, DRC, India and Brazil, as well as all East African countries and special partnerships with cultural organizations representing all parts of Uganda. The 2024 event will feature a special showcase from Sudanese artists-in-exile that is being curated in partnership with Kampala-based Sudanese artists. Thanks to their government’s support, Brazil and the UK will also be heavily featured in this year’s program. In 2023 the festival was a success in production and in providing a safe environment for its revelers and this year Nyege Nyege will again be working with all security stakeholders to ensure it is a resounding success. Long-term sponsor Uganda Breweries will host three distinct experiences at the event, in addition to a new Hakuna Kulala stage that will deliver a 96-hour music and performance marathon and comprising both live acts, DJs and dance and theatre performances. Nyege Nyege’s long-term partner Talent Africa is known for being Uganda’s number one event production company and in 2024 the Festival will be staged at a brand new site: twelve acres at the Source of the Nile in Jinja, Njeru. It is opposite of last year’s location that saw more than 20,000 people from across Uganda, Africa and the globe gather for the four-day event to hear some of Africa’s most exciting acts.
The new site features a brand new aquapark, ample parking, camping infrastructures, and is naturally secured, making it the perfect home for Nyege Nyege to stage this year’s event. The organizers have partnered with neighboring lands to establish and run this year’s campsite, which will be directly connected to the festival site. Nyege Nyege will also have a special partnership with Kingfisher Resort, which will offer accommodation 5 minutes away from the site. This year Nyege Nyege is furthermore partnering with Platinum Tours and Travels to create a series of tourism packages that will enable festival-goers the chance to discover the Pearl of Africa before and after the festival. This includes opportunities to go on safari and to visit local cultural sites. The 2024 line-up will be announced on July 1st and will include the announcement of guest curators from Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania. Last year’s festival included the BET award winner South African superstar Sho Madjozi; Vigro Deep who brough the best of the signature South African house music genre Amapiano; Grammy-nominated and BET winner Ugandan singer Eddy Kenzo; Nigerian hip-hop singer and songwriter Aunty Rayzor; and the acclaimed African DJ Kampire, who has played festivals across the world. The new dates were formally announced today at the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo staged by the Uganda Tourism Board in Uganda’s capital Kampala. Nyege Nyege is Uganda’s biggest tourism event and this year’s festival is expected to provide a $10 million boost to the country’s economy. It will create 2,000 jobs directly through the festival and a further 2,000 jobs through the springing up of businesses to help facilitate visitors. Further economic benefits arising from the event include vendors being selected to sell goods and services, support services for the visiting artists, professional service companies support and accommodation and travel bookings.
Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased at www.nyegenyege.com as well as at www.mookh.com and www.ra.com. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT WARREN BECKETT AT WARREN@ZEBEK.CO.UK OR CALL ON +44 (0) 7971077191
HIGH RES PHOTOS FROM THE 2023 EVENT CAN BE DOWNLOADED AT (CREDIT: TALENT AFRICA): https://zbek.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/Zebek/ElJ5_uqLeAdNqRBIy8Oeb24Bi-h-SzfwLImRQeRaeCDlpg?e=kVebRp NOTES FOR EDITORS: Nyege Nyege is Africa’s leading music festival, featured in publications globally including the New York Times, La Monde, Mixmag and the Guardian. The festival was twice named the Uganda Tourism Board’s ‘Best Overall Tourism Event of the Year’ and hailed by leading UK music magazine FACT as The Electronic Music Festival In The World. The festival also runs a year-long music residency and community space where musicians and creatives from all over the continent can meet and create together. The festival and its associated labels and collective have defined the vanguard of new sounds emerging from the Continent and is widely considered to be the greatest showcase of traditional and contemporary African music in the world, attracting music fans and industry movers and shakers to come and discover new music genres, breakthrough artists and blossoming talents at every edition. This year the festival will also feature fashion shows, water based activities, circus performances and art installations. “Nyege Nyege is a genuine, experimental African utopia- it feels like the future of festivals: excitingly diverse, consistently surprising and committed to uncontrollable dancing” Mixmag “There are festivals and there is Nyege Nyege” Boiler Room
“Africa’s Best Underground Music Festival” Okay Africa “East Africa is going through a musical renaissance” The Quietus “The world’s best electronic music festival is in Uganda” FACT “Over the past five years, Nyege Nyege has grown exponentially in size and influence, and has gained a reputation for platforming experimental sounds of the Ugandan and wider Sub-Saharan African underground” DAZED “acclaimed party-turned-festival-turned-record label providing a global platform for contemporary pan-African dance music” CRACK “Techno, soukous, abstract electronics – the Nyege Nyege collective draws from the cultural melting pot of Kampala’s music scene. But unlike other European visitors, it also gives something back” The Guardian “Electronic music is booming in East Africa, and a small collective based in Kampala is at the heart of it all” Resident Advisor “utopic temporary autonomous zone” Pan African Music “Le festival le plus punk du monde” Mixmag France
