An overview of the history of the Nyege Nyege Festival.

After a two-year break caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, one of Africa's most thrilling festivals, Nyege Nyege, will return this September.

Derek Debru and Arlen Dilsizian, two friends, co-founded Nyege Nyege, which combines a record label, Nyege Nyege Tapes, a studio, and a festival.

The inaugural Nyege Nyege event was held at the Nile Discovery Resort on October 15, 2015, in Njeru, Buikwe District.

The 1st edition of the festival was a flop with low attendance, a disorganized setting, no sponsors, and three days of rain.

However, two editions later, the festival had transformed from a struggling event to one of Africa's most eagerly awaited fetes and one of the world's burgeoning events.

Every edition brings more than 30 of the best and most promising DJs and producers of electronic music to the Nile Discovery Resort.

But In 2016 the number increased to over 200 musicians from over 30 nations.

The festival, which takes its name from the Luganda term ekinyegenyege (uncontrollable need to dance), is promoted as one where revelers can have as much fun as they want.

The fifth edition of the Nyege Nyege, which featured more than 300 performers from 30 different countries, left a lasting effect on many attendees because it was the last physical one before the two-year break brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Online Nyege Nyege festival.

Dubbed the Nyege Nyege Hybrid Festival of The Arts 2020  the festival was moved from September 2020 to December and it happened from the 3rd to the 6th in compliance with the COVID-19 regulation-compliant physical party.The festival was held online and was accessible through the Nyege Nyege website that year, with "African Unity" as the theme.

For Ugandans, Nyege Nyege employed the country's "boda boda" network of motorbike taxis to transport "party packages" that included Nyege masks, T-shirts, and discounted food and beverages to partner restaurants in Kampala. Additionally, there were DJs, hairdressers, tattoo artists, make-up artists, and live television feeds dispersed across the city. In order for no one to miss out on this significant day in Uganda's cultural calendar, the goal was to establish a decentralized network of tiny private celebrations around the city, coordinated by the locals themselves.

2022 Edition

Widely regarded as Uganda's most eagerly awaited event on the yearly social calendar, the Festival will take place from September 15 to September 18 in 2022 at a new location, Itanda Falls.

With a brand-new venue, novel experiences, and a sizable line-up of more than 300 performers from around the world, this edition will be by far the most historic after two years of lockdown.

NO ONE CAN STOP NYEGE NYEGE.

The festival, which is a tourism treasure trove, has encountered several obstacles. Only a few days before the festival in 2018, the late Simon Lokodo, the country's minister of ethics and integrity, attempted to put an end to it. Three city pastors demanded its prohibition in 2019 a few days after the celebration.

In a plenary session of the house this year 2020, Speaker of the House Anita Annet Among declared that the Event will not be permitted by Parliament.

Claiming that the Festival fosters sexual immorality and that, as an African nation, our moral standards and values must be sacrificed in the name of tourism development.

But over the years, every attempt to cancel the festival has failed, and this year's festival will go on as planned after being approved by the prime minister.

The proverb "no one can stop nyege nyege" seems to be true all the time.