Lamu Cultural Festival

Lamu Old Town is a unique and rare historical living heritage with more than 700 years of continuous settlement.  Since its inscription as a World Heritage Site in 2011, the annual Lamu Cultural Festival has been a celebration of the unique Swahili heritage of the Lamu Archipelago.

Organised by the Lamu Cultural promotion group, the three day festivities (20-22 Nov, 2009) showcased traditional dances, displays of handicraft and competitions on water and land (Swahili poetry, donkey races, dhow races, henna painting), Swahili bridal ceremonies and musical performances.

This year's programme featured a dramatized performance of the poem 'Mnazi: Vuta N'Kuvute' (The Coconut Tree: A Tug of War') by the Kenyan poet, Abdilatif Abdalla, from his collection of poems 'Sauti ya Dhiki'.

Musical performances from Morocco highlighted the universality of shared influences over time, and Praful Kumar and party from Mombasa entertained the spectators until dawn with music from Bollywood.

Lamu Fort was host to a series of exhibitions including; a poster exhibition on 'Bombay Africans (1850 - 1910)', 'Kanga Stories' documenting the social meaning and use of the Kanga and 'Collage Boxes' an assemblage of boxes highlighting feminist art using collage by the Brazilian artist, Carolina Gama.

The other hightlights of the Festival included the official opening of the restored 'Dhuele Mosque' in Shela (a mid 18th century traditional Swahili village exhibiting cultural, historical and architectural traits that are of invaluable significance to the people of Lamu Archipelago) as well as the launch of the pictorial book 'Lamu, Kenya's Enchanted Island'.

Lamu welcomes you to experience a heritage and traditions that have earned the island a place in the coveted UNESCO's World Heritage List.

In the spirit of offering that little bit more of Lamu, just as the festival does itself, we are joining in the concept of giving by offering all guests that book certain accomodation through us for the whole festival period, an extra nights accomodation free of charge.  This will allow you to chill out either before or after the festival events (the choice is entirely yours) to enjoy the island and its surroundings, and make the most of your stay in this beautiful location.

This offer is for all reservations made and paid for prior to the 1st November 2011.