Nyege Nyege festival returns for 5th edition

The Nyege Nyege festival is back for its fifth edition. This year's Nyege Nyege is endorsed by the Ministry of Tourism and the town of Njeru, Jinja, making it a joint effort to showcase the beauty and hospitality of Uganda to all foreign visitors.

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This 5th edition aims to bring forth the full force of the Ugandan and East African creative spirit. Performances, happenings, situations and art installations featuring dancers, acrobats, graffiti

artists, fortune tellers, musicians, inventors and rainmakers will all come together to create one grand adventure that lasts for four days, right at the source of the Nile.

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This year Nyege Nyege will also put renewed emphasis on the food experience, combining the best of EastAfrican cuisine with classic Ugandan street food and delicacies from all over the world, as well as a showcase of unique Boutique brands from the region. A glamping option on the Nile will also be available this year. Even more so than previous years, this year’s edition will be highly participatory and interactive, with a special emphasis onbuilding community and spaces that are safe and fun with care forthe forest that hosts the event.

The cumulative work of the Kampala based record label and art collective Boutiq Foundation has

made Nyege Nyege a festival on the global radar. FactMag called it the “World’s Best Electronic Music

Festival”, Okay Africa called it the “Best African underground music festival” and Mix Mag called it a

‘Genuine African Utopia at the source of the River Nile’.

By combining stages playing Afro Beats, and alternative African pop music with 4 stages presenting the cream of the East African underground and a world class line up of East African traditional troupes with a carefully selected line up of international artists representing the spectrum of exciting sounds from around the globe, including acts from all over the African Continent as well as a special focus on East Asia and the US, the program and the setting are what make the Nyege sauce so tasty.

Nyege Nyege is partnering with several touring companies in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Africa and Los Angeles to give visitors a chance to combine the festival with other adventures, from rafting to safari and mountain climbing, or simply relaxing, the Pearl of Africa has something for everyone.

This year the festival will feature five stages, as well as roving traditional bands and a few dancehall

disco shacks outside the festival grounds where surprise acts from the official line up will perform.

Music is once again the main topic on the Nyege Nyege program,with over 300 performers coming from over 30 countries, in essence a true celebration of music.

This year Nyege Nyege will also explore the spectrum of alternative pop soundsfrom a new generation of African producers, including Ethiopian EDM sensation Rophnan and Ugandan dancehall Queen, Sheebah.

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Headlining the festival will be FuluMziki the legendary eight piece band from Kinshasa will

make their first appearance outside of the Democratic Republic of Congo, they will be in Kampala for a

month building instruments, costumes and recording an album in the Nyege Nyege Studio, ahead of

one of the most anticipated performances of the festival.

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Dj Diaki, the Balani king of Bamako will bang out his showcase of Mali’s unique sound system culture, Mauritanian synth freak-out masters WZN will perform for the first time outside their country. Menzi and Phelimuncasi will bring the hard Gqom and Sgubhu sound ofDurban,while Yugen Blak rock will represent the burgeoning South African hip-hop scene. WZN will make their first trip outside of Mauritania with their psychedelic desert synthesis. Infrapa will breath new life in his twisted kalindula soukous hiphop from Kisangani.

Jako Maron from Reunion Island and Afro Rack from Uganda, two of the continents Modular Synth

pioneers will also perform live at the festival.

This year Nyege Nyege builds on its growing links with South East Asia bringing DJ and label boss of

Chinese label Genome 666, Kilo Vee as well as Chinese Underground producers Hyph11e, Gooooose and 33EMYBW. Japanese alternative hip-hop and break-core artists Dj Scoth Egg and DJ Die Soon and very hopefully a big surprise from Indonesia.

This year NyegeNyege continues to build on afford jasper an link at America and Europe. From America the festival showcases for the first time on the continent the legendary sound of Detroit's

historical techno scene with scene linchpin Juan Atkins African debut.

In conversation with fast paced polyrhythmic music from East Africa like electro-Acholi and Singeli is prolific Chicago based Footwork and Juke producer EQ Why’s who takes his first journey outside the USA. He will be accompanied by New York based producer Suzi Analgoue and DJ Shyboi. From Europe, Moesha13, Marseille born with Malian roots, and scene innovator of the citiesinnovative Frap-Core scene will be joining Congolese Swiss Bonaventure, UK based Josey Rebelle and Belgiums DTM Funk and Zulu Shoko.

Also Joining from Europe is Nyege Nyege resident DJ Marcelle , UK cultstar Elvin Brandy and

London bad boy weirdo Lord Tusk. This year will also feature a showcase from the Milan based

Saturnalia collective, highlighting the growing linkages between the Milan based Experimental music

festival where Nyege Nyege Artists who have performed for the past two years.

The extensive line up will feature some of the continent’s most cutting edge musicians, DJs and producers, including artists under Nyege Nyege Tapes & Hakuna Kulala, the festival’s critically acclaimed associated labels. The Kampala based arts incubator has been actively working to

develop the Regional music scene holding workshops, residencies, and supporting two community

studios.

Artists from the growing roster embarked on a Four Month Summer tour that includes

Kenyan producer Slikback, Otim Alpha & Leo Palayeng, Singeli Artists Bamba Pana and Makavelli,

MCZO & Duke, Jay Mitta, as well as Nihiloxica, DJ Kampire, Catudiosis, DJ Po, Hibotep, Decay and

Authentically Plastic, as well as an African premier for Jako Maron recently returning from his

performance at Venice Biennale.

This year the festival will also highlight the burgeoning Metal scene in East Africa with Kenyans band Seeds of Datura and Kenyan Grindcore project DUMMA. Also Debuting at the festival this yearis Afro- Rack, the Uganda sound engineer Bamanya Brian who has constructed from scratch his own modular synth.

This year the festival again partners with Boiler Room to stream dj sets from East African producers and DJs across the world.

Many of the international acts will be in Kampala for a month ahead of the festival to collaborate with Ugandan musicians and prepare special performances at this year’s edition. These include; Bonaventure Mbote, Dj Scotch Egg & Dj Die Soon, Portuguese percussionist Joao Pais Filipe,

Chicago based Footwork producer EQ Why, Malian producer Dj Diaki, South African GQOM

pioneers Phelimuncasi and Marseilles based producer and rapper Moesha13.

The 2019 edition once again places special emphasis on the rich diversity of East African traditional music, with 15 different traditional troupes from all corners of the region performing, including a 40 pieces Agwara troupe from the West Nile region of Uganda and a Congolese Amadinda troupe that plays a 14 foot long xylophone.

The 2018 edition saw over 300 local and international artists take to the stage in front of 8000

festival-goers. In previous years the festival has served as the East African debut for Batida pioneer DJ

Marfox, the satirical Ghanaian rappers FOKN Bois, Niger-based synth pioneer Mamman Sani, South African arists like ShoMadjozi, RudeBoys and Dominowe, Burkinabe rapper JoeyLeSoldat, Senegalese

electronic producer Ibaaku, Tuareg rock group Etran de L’Air, J-Lin and European acts like Errorsmith,

Jasss,GiantSwan,TomokoSauvage,RianTreanorandModernInstitute.

Nyege Nyege: (noun, Luganda) The feeling of a sudden uncontrollable urge to move, shake or dance.

Tickets

Die Hard tickets are available online www.nyegenyege.com/tickets/ from Saturday July 15th 2019.