FESTIVALS AND EVENTS

FESTIVALS

AND EVENTS

Ubumuntu’ Arts Festival - July 2021

Ubumuntu Arts Festival is an art centric festival inspired by and created for the sake of humanity. Art has manifested itself world over as an efficient form of communicating, expressing opinions, airing issues and sharing values about all aspects of life that affect humanity. We are convinced that art as a forum for communication, expression, reflection, innovation and creativity is a key motor for social change.

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The Rwandan calendar is packed with excitement year-round, guaranteeing that visitors to the country will be spoiled for choice. Events kick off in earnest as soon as early January, with the annual Race Around Rwanda (RAR), which this year has been postponed until May. The ultra-endurance cycling event leads contestants on a spectacular route across Rwanda’s beautiful countryside, beginning in Akagera Park before a five-day journey, culminating at the majestic Gashora Bridge. All participants are required to transport their own food, drinks, and equipment for the self-supported race, making the RAR a supreme test of individual strength and resilience! Then, with the hard-yards are behind you, let the professionals show how it’s done! In May 2021 marks the arrival of the week-long official Tour Du Rwanda. Rwanda’s national

CYCLING IN RWANDA

team are one of fifteen selected for the spectacular event, which boasts intense climbs throughout most of its eight stages.

For something more slow-paced, the Nyungwe Festival offers an ideal alternative. Attendees participate in a diverse range of activities, with the aim of promoting conservation awareness and celebrating the bonds between people and the environment. Falling in early March, and set within jaw-dropping Nyungwe National Park, highlights include the Nyungwe Marathon, canopy walks, and the famous after-party: a fun filled event of music, food and drinks!

Translating as “Being Human”, with July comes the Ubumuntu Arts Festival. The brainchild of Hope Azeda, a major figure in contemporary Rwandan theatre, the festival celebrates communication, expression, reflection, innovation and creativity, as a force for social change. First held in 2015, the Festival brings together artists from around the world to convene in Kigali for performances, workshops, and panel discussions. Following closely behind is the week-long Rwanda Film Festival. Affectionately known as ‘Hillywood’, the Festival celebrates African films both from the continent and the Diaspora. Although based in Kigali, the festival-organizers also take the show on the road to villages and towns across Rwanda, hosting pop-up screenings and workshops that allow members of the public to get to grips with the basics of filmmaking. The perfect way to spend a day or an evening, keep an eye on the festival schedule to make sure that your trip coincides with a screening! That achieved, round off the month at the annual KigaliUp Festival, a much-anticipated event, featuring world music, reggae, funk, blues, hip hop and roots artists from around the globe.

September heralds the arrival of the Kwita Izina gorilla-naming ceremony, one of Rwanda’s most popular and most wellknown events. Hosted in the foothills of Volcanoes National Park, the ceremony offers a once-in-a-lifetime experience for any tourist, providing the opportunity to meet and discuss gorilla conservation with park staff and leading conservationists, and to attend the numerous cultural events held alongside the all-important gorilla-naming.

If you’ve managed to skip all these, never fear! Travelers throughout the year have a chance to experience Rwandan culture at its most sustainable during the monthly Umuganda. A national holiday, falling on the last Saturday of each month, Umuganda – otherwise known as ‘Public Cleaning Day’ – is a practice in which all members of the public contribute to three hours of community work. Taking root in deep traditions of co-operation, it is a festival very much integrated into public lifestyle. Unique to Rwanda, it’s not to be missed!! c