Lamu culture festival was the ‘best ever'

The 16th edition of the Lamu Cultural Festival that began on Thursday ended on Sunday, with businessmen, especially hoteliers, boat operators and small-scale traders and fishermen in the Lamu archipelago ringing up huge profits.

This was attributed to the massive arrival of guests in the four-day event, which created demand for their products.

The popular festival is an annual event that is held to showcase the rich culture and heritage of Lamu’s Swahili people that has captivated the world for centuries.

This year’s event was the biggest yet in terms of attendance, pulling more than 100,000 visitors, both domestic and international.

The festival being the most anticipated event in the archipelago, this year’s edition even caused an accommodation crisis within Old Town and the Shella seaside tourist town, especially in the last two days.

Most business people interviewed by the Nation said they were happy that this year’s festival netted huge profits for them.

“We have never before experienced this kind of profits ever since Lamu began holding festivals,” said Mr Ali Bunu, the owner of the famous Lamu Sunsail hotel. “For once, my hotel has recorded almost 100 per cent booking throughout the event.”

GAINED 90 PER CENT PROFIT

Mr Johnson Kagiri, a small-scale trader in Lamu town, said he had gained over 90 per cent profit in his business during the four-day event.

“In normal days, I used to sell some of my items at Sh300 or Sh350,” said Mr Kagiri. “In the four-day period of the festival, I used to sell most of my goods at Sh500.

“I am happy that the cultural festival has made me sell all my stuff.”

Lamu County Acting Trade, Culture and Tourism Executive Khamis Kaviha expressed his delight.

Mr Kaviha said the festival was more successful than the previous years.

Said Mr Kaviha: “We hope to regain our lost tourism glory through such festivals and make our tourist sites attractive to the world.

“We have already achieved our target of branding Lamu town an “Island of Festivals”. We want to raise the profile of the lovely, enhancing island and attract more visitors.”

EXPLORE ARCHIPELAGO

Lamu’s tourism was badly hit in 2014 due to the threat of terrorism and consequent issuance of travel advisories by major European source markets. The French embassy lifted its travel advisory in April this year.

“The Lamu Cultural Festival has been a popular, growing, fantastic event,” said Mr Kaviha. “Our intention is to improve all the events held in Lamu since Lamu is an Island of Festivals.”

He said the year-round festivals will offer visitors the opportunity to explore the archipelago and ‘discover what makes Lamu “truly unique”.

Lamu Old Town is a unique and rare historical living heritage with more than 700 years of continuous settlement. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 2001 by Unesco.

Mr Ghalib Alwy, the Lamu Cultural Festival Promotional Group chairman, who is also the proprietor of the Bush Gardens Seafront Restaurant, declared the latest event a “massive success”, adding that shops, cafes, pubs and hotels have greatly benefited.

‘I am impressed by the 16th edition of the Lamu Cultural Festival. It has seen most traders incurring huge profits including myself,” said Mr Alwy.

The weeklong 2016 Lamu Cultural Festival featured Swahili poetry, traditional dances, Henna paintings, donkey races, dhow races, swimming competitions and the Swahili bridal ceremony, among other activities that were aimed at promoting the unique Swahili culture of the Lamu people.

Meanwhile, security was beefed up in the entire Lamu Island and its environs as the event came to an end on Sunday evening.