County bets on cultural festival to spur tourism

Culture enthusiasts converge on Marsabit county from May 29 to May 31 for this year’s Marsabit-Lake Turkana cultural festival.

The county’s tourism, culture and social development executive Galmo Boru Halakhe said they were committed to supporting the event to revive tourism.

The festival, in its eighth edition, was initiated by local communities. It is currently supported by the German Embassy and the county government.
About 500 people are expected to take part in the festival, which will take place in Loiyangalani.

ADDRESING CHALLENGES
Ms Halakhe said they were working on ways of  addressing challenges that dogged last year’s festival. She said a number of companies had expressed interest to provide goods and services.

“We faced a lot of challenges last year, especially regarding accommodation and catering, but we hope to do better this time,” she said.

She added that the county plans to improve the site by building sheds and planting indigenous trees. 

The county has been going through tough times due to insecurity, she noted, adding that the situation had now improved. 

“We hope to exploit the event to market our county, which has great potential for tourism”, she said.

She noted that Marsabit has a rich diverse culture of 14 different groups. It also has parks, craters, forests and the only desert in East Africa — Chalbi desert — besides the distinct beauty of bare land, oasis and springs.  

MISS TOURISM FETE

She said they would market culture though a Miss Tourism contest, as well as cultural festivals at sub-county levels. 

The local Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Jack Elisha said the festival would boost the economy by attracting investors and tourists. 

Several hotels are already coming up in Loiyangalani as a sign of booming business in the town, he said. 

Ms Halakhe said she would strive to ensure that festivals are organised every month to boost trade and tourism and enhance interaction of residents.