Festivals continue to struggle for good footing in Uganda; for instance, even when completely free, local arts festivals do not boast swelling numbers.
It is why Milege World Music festival is worth celebrating. Probably Uganda’s first camping festival, the fourth edition was last weekend at Entebbe Botanical gardens and judging by the past editions, there was a lot of growth.
The festival had an ambitious lineup packed with crowd-pleasers including Maddox Sematimba and Rachel Magoola, and more sophisticated local acts such as Rockies’ Troupe, Giovanni Kiyingi, Mo Roots and the Undercover Brothers.
The Friday start was slow as many people made their way to the grounds. It was on Saturday morning that the camping site started taking shape as more people put up tents.
Unlike the past years where the festival has struggled to entice Ugandan revellers, this time round many made the effort. Usually it is left to expats. Powered by Bell Lager, this year the festival looked at satisfying different types of patrons; there were those Ugandans that wanted to party and drink in the wild and others that wanted to appreciate the country’s nature.
Uganda Wildlife Education Center (UWEC) and the Ngamba Chimpanzee Trust took the other responsibility – in the mornings, there were free trips to the zoo, while during the performances, there were draws that saw lucky people win trips to the chimpanzee sanctuary.
But the main attraction of these festivals is the stage, where last weekend little-known Rockies Troupe had a blast with different folklore showcases. They performed music from Buganda, complete with the nankasa, ngalabi and madinda, then fused it with an electronic band to get their eccentric audience grooving.
The troupe is mainly made up of children and youths, many of whom, according to Ssozi Brian the group’s proprietor, are vulnerable.
“This music has not been appreciated in Uganda, thus I was thinking, if we can have young people value it at a tender stage, it will stand a chance.”
And of course, it was such young stars like Rockies, Kiyingi and Undercover Brothers that defined the festival; at some point it felt like they even stole Rachel Magoola’s Obangaina thunder with their theatricals and well-thought-out performances.
The festival ended on Sunday. Many Ugandans were attending for the first time and vowed to make the trip next year.
kaggwandre@gmail.com