In Kigali (Rwanda) the city’s diverse communities have clearly expressed an effort to reconnect through culture by engaging in the variety of music and art festivals hosted in the city.
Ubumuntu (Being Human) Arts Festival takes place in Kigali annually, following the last week of the 100 days’ commemoration of the 1994 genocide. It is held at the outdoor amphitheatre of the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre and brings together artists from all over the world. Festival activities include performances,workshops, panels and genocide memorial site visits.
The Kigali Up music festival, which celebrated its sixth edition in 2015, features world music, reggae, funk, blues, hip-hop and roots artists, while showcasing what the city has to offer, from traditional food to African arts.
Kigali Fashion Week promotes culture, fashion and entrepreneurship. Bringing together fashion designers from the African continent, the event aims to showcase their creative talents and build relationships between local and international designers.
The Rwanda Film Festival runs each year for a week, screening famous international films in five to six venues around the city. A great experience for film-lovers, this festival is mostly free to the audience. During the festival, the Hillywood Travelling Programme also simultaneously takes place. With the slogan ‘The Cinema to the People’, the organizers place screens in different hilly locations around the country, broadcasting films from local artists to more remote areas.
Hobe Rwanda was introduced as a cultural event in Kigali in 2011. Since then, the festival has attracted folk music-lovers and young artists with a passion for Rwanda’s history and culture. Hobe Rwanda aims to bring together a variety of artists, from painters to musicians, singers and poets with a common purpose: to educate and motivate young people to learn more about the Rwandan culture, music and other traditional activities through this one-day event.
Prepared by UNESCO