By Rachael Namugga
This year’s Nyege Nyege Festival will take place from November 9–12, 2023, the organizers have announced.
According to Talent Africa, the festival will be held on a combined space of about 50 acres, covering the Source of the Nile, Jinja Showgrounds, Jinja Golf Course, and Source Gardens, in what is being termed the ‘Nyege Wonderland’.
“We are super excited to be part of this again, and we have been thinking and working for the past 3 months to bring you the best festival,” Talent Africa CEO Aly Allibhai announced at a press conference on Tuesday, August 22, 2023.
He explained that in 2022, after a 3-year hiatus and entering a new site at Itanda Falls, the new site proved to be too inconvenient for the logistics of production and for revelers alike, coupled with bad weather and roads. He explained that this led the organizers to search for a new and better home.
“This time we are to have stages around the whole city. We want to bring a different experience to Nyege Wonderland. Nyege Nyege 2023 is happening from the 9th to the 12th of November,” he said.
“This year the whole city of Jinja will take part in the festival. By working with local businesses, hotels, artists, builders, and volunteers, this year’s edition will be a real showcase of community involvement,” he added.
Derek Debru, co-founder of Nyege Nyege, said: “Nyege23 is bringing something interesting, and this time we are working with the whole city… It’s going to be a family experience.”
The four-day Nyege Nyege festival on the banks of the Nile in the southern town of Jinja brings together artists from across Africa to entertain around 10,000 revelers and is usually held in September.
Nyege Nyege means an irresistible urge to dance in the local Luganda language, but it can have a sexual connotation in other languages in the region.