Nyege Nyege Festival Returns to Jinja for 'Nyege Wonderland', to Be Set on 50 Acres of Land

Last year’s majestic Itanda Falls proved to be too far and complicated, so this year, organizers of Nyege Nyege Festival have brought it back for its 8th edition in an exciting new location setting it up on three conjoined sites: The Jinja Golf Course, Source of the Nile and the Jinja Showground. With over 300 hotels, the city will provide accommodation for all guests just minutes away from the venue. The safety and comfort of all artists and revelers will be a top priority, and camping will no longer be provided on site but smaller, safe and comfortable campsites will be set up by partnering hotels. In 2022, after a 3 year hiatus and entering a new site at Itanda Falls, the new site proved to be too inconvenient for the logistics of production and for revelers alike, bad weather and roads led the organizers to search for a new and better home until the day Itanda rises again. With over 500 shows internationally, the festival and its associated labels and collective have defined the vanguard of new sounds emerging from the Continent and the festival 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 start with a 2 day music conference (November 7th and 8th) for artists and east African industry players to connect and learn in order to strengthen the East African music industry through workshops, networking sessions and showcases. The line-up will be announced in September but will include East Africa’s most exciting new acts, as well as artists from music power houses such as Nigeria, South Africa and Brazil. Styles and genres will cover the diversity of African sounds, from South African amapiano to Nigerian cruise beat, from afrobeats to gengetone, dancehall, singeli, soukous and more. A real treat for the ears, the mind, the soul and the body. This year the whole city of Jinja will take part in the festival, by working with local businesses, hotels, artists, builders and volunteers, this year’s edition will be a real showcase in community involvement, and how music festivals can spark the imagination and dedication of an entire community and boost the local economy in order to leave a positive impact. This year again Nyege Nyege will partner with Uganda’s leading event production company Talent Africa who has been with the festival since its second edition and with its long-term sponsor Uganda Breweries, who will host 3 distinct experiences, in addition to a new Hakuna Kulala stage going on for a 96H music and performance marathon and comprising both live acts, DJs and dance and theatre performances. The festival will once again showcase the diversity of Ugandan traditional music with traditional acts coming from all over the country as well as Burundi, Tanzania and Comoros. The festival runs a year-long music residency and community space where musicians and creatives from all over the continent can meet and create together. Harnessing that energy, the festival has evolved from a small party into the most adventurous festival on the continent - a party no Ugandan can miss. Despite past challenges of rain and government shutdown, the festival has never drifted from its vision; in 2023 Nyege Nyege aims to inspire and amaze even more.