The idea of hosting a cultural festival in each county that highlights the unique traditions, customs, and heritage of local communities all over Kenya is at an advanced stage.
John Olultuaa, the Tourism Principal Secretary, while speaking to KBC Channel 1, said that the government is working with the Council of Governors to come up with a national cultural festival calendar. This is planned to be a series of cultural festivals that would attract visitors throughout the year in the field of cultural tourism. The project is aimed at expanding Kenya’s tourism products to include cultural tourism besides the beaches and safaris that are the most popular.
Olultuaa revealed that the festivals would see the dominant communities in the counties show their artifacts, songs, dances, and food, thus creating a cultural experience that both local and foreign tourists would be immersed in and would have a great time.
At present, Kenya has an approximate number of ten cultural festivals among which are the Maa Cultural Festival, Tobong’u Lore, Luo Piny Festival, Rusinga Festival, and Lamu Festival. The new program will give each county the chance to organise and market their own unique event.
The Ministry of Tourism, together with the Council of Governors, are working to decide the festival dates which will then be used to plan the Magical Kenya calendar to be promoted by the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB).
Kenya has set a target of drawing in five million international tourists by the year 2027 and one of the major reasons that would lead to the accomplishment of this goal would be cultural tourism.
