I Will Never Attend The Nyege Nyege Festival Ever Again…

…because one can only deal with so much fun, energy and insanity in small doses!

Nyege Nyege (noun) : the uncontrollable urge to shake or dance.
Whoever named this festival as thus needs an award, because it’s one hell of a catchy phrase , and a slap because our Kenyan brothers and sisters could not keep the ‘Nyege Nyege’ jokes to themselves in the few weeks leading up to the event. In Swahili, the term ‘nyege’ is synonymous with erotic stimulation, lust and sexual desire, and after my experience at the festival, their jokes didn’t seem too far off.
Last weekend, I broke my Nyege Nyege International Music Festival virginity. I arrived on Saturday morning and left on Sunday evening, so I only enjoyed 48hours of the event. It started out a little slow for me, but as the hours went by the Lumpen eventually surfaced and the party was on! Here’s a little bit of my short experience at the event (or whatever I remember.)

You can tell who came rolling with the official sponsor! (Photo by Tweny Benjamin/TwenyMoments)

Extra-abundant alcohol. I am a Ugandan, and as a citizen of a country which emerged 8th greatest drinking nation in the world, I am obliged to leave the party only when the alcohol is done. Trust me when I say that between 2nd and 4th September, Uganda Breweries Limited had Nyeglets in check. At no single point in the space of 72 hours did any selling point say it had run out of beer. Even with a crowd of 1000+ people, you would expect a seller to tell you that the alcohol had run out and he was expecting some more stock so that you could take a breather from all the Nyege Nyege madness. Nope. The urge had to be respected in all possible ways.

The Roadtrip slide. Because, who doesn’t love getting muddy? (Photo by Access Films)

 

Freedom for everyone! This year’s Nyege Nyege Festival took place at the Nile Discovery Beach, Jinja – a very beautiful place I must say. It’s miles away from home or anyone who knows you, so you might as well indulge in the urge to shake and dance uncontrollably. Once you step into the Nyege Nyege atmosphere, all care goes out the window and a strong aura of I-don’t-give-a-flying-fudge kicks in. No one cared what you wore. No one cared what you drank. No one cared what you painted on your face or your body. No one cared what you smoked. No one cared what you were dancing to. No one cared where you slept. No one cared whether anyone cared. It was one big ‘no one cares’ soiree and in all honesty, that’s definitely something that we hypocritically conservative Ugandans need.

 

Specially stuffed rolex. (Photo: David Garlick)

What is happening to the Rolex? At the festival, there was an array of food –from Jamaican Jerk Chicken to Japanese food, however, the gazillion rolex stands still stole the show. A rolex of two chapatis and 2 eggs was going at an average price of UGX3000. It is no secret that the people who hail from Jinja are experts in the chapati and rolex making business. I have never seen so many variations of the rolex in one place – not even the recently held Rolex Festival comes close. Honestly, this is where that Tourism minister chap should have been while dancing with his Uganda flag draped around himself. I saw rolexes being rolled with avocado and fries (chips in Uglish) while others were being garnished with all kinds of things. I kid you not. A bunch of friends who had traveled from Rwanda were fascinated by a stand where the rolexes were prepared with avocado, lemon zest and cloves. They tried to offer me a bite and I ran in the opposite direction. All my life, I’ve known that cloves go well in a hot pot of pilau and lemon zest in ‘mandazi.’ Please, do not confuse my taste buds trying to put them in my rolex. Thank you.

The Body of Brian

The music. There was an era in life when all the musical entertainment we humans had were drums and horns and it was one huge caveman party. Now, we have over a hundred music genres. I’m a reggae and dancehall fanatic and last weekend, I was exposed to some very interesting sounds. What in the world is ‘Afro Funk?’ Is it a smelly afro? I’m still not over the fact that Rihanna and Drake’s ‘Work’ was labeled ‘Tropical House.’ Anyway, there were over 100 DJS and artistes who played and performed everything. EDM, Reggae, House, Dancehall, RnB, HipHop, Alternative, Rock, Pop, ‘Afro Funk’, Kidandali. EVERYTHING. What impressed me the most is the fact that the festival dominantly showcased the exciting transformations in contemporary African music. Some of my favorite acts were a one DJ Blinky Bill, The Body of Brian (this guy can sing. How is he not playing on Ugandan radios?) and reggae artiste Jah Turban, because he was one of the few reggae acts I got to watch perform live.

DJ Blinky Bill (Access Films Photo)

Some people have called it Uganda’s very own Coachella, and I cannot disagree with them. With festival programming being a key element for the success of any festival, I must say The Boutiq Foundation, who are the organizers of the event, did very well working with various music enthusiasts around the continent to come up with its incredible line-up. The Nyege Nyege Festival is definitely one of the must-attends on the Ugandan event calendar and I recommend that you take that trip next year and experience it yourself. I know I definitely am.