The 10th edition of the Nyege Nyege Festival came to a triumphant close yesterday at its vibrant new home, Adrift Uganda in Kayunga, 23 kilometers from Jinja City, which hosted the festival in the previous years.
This anniversary edition was a powerful celebration of a decade of culture, music, and global creative exchange, drawing thousands of revelers to the banks of the River Nile for four unforgettable days.
With new partnerships, expanded stages, and deeper international collaborations, 2025 reaffirmed Nyege Nyege’s place as East Africa’s most influential multi-arts festival.
One of the most transformative highlights this year was the decisive cultural intervention led by the Royal Danish Embassy in Uganda. As part of Denmark’s new Africa Century strategy, focused on creativity, cultural exchange, and strengthening people-to-people relations, the Embassy launched two major initiatives at Nyege Nyege.
The first was the establishment of Africa’s inaugural Electronic Music Conference, a milestone platform designed to elevate emerging African electronic artists by providing access to professional development sessions, production training, distribution knowledge, artist management insight, and essential creative entrepreneurship skills.
The conference brought together DJs, producers, festival curators, managers, and culture innovators from across the continent and beyond, laying the groundwork for long-term collaborations and sustainable creative careers.
Alongside the conference, Denmark also unveiled The Hive, a dynamic cultural space created to foster exchange, learning, and creative interaction throughout the festival and beyond. Supported by Roskilde Festival, Northern Europe’s largest music festival with 54 years of experience, The Hive offered workshops, conversations, meetups, and creative labs for festivalgoers from around the world.
Beyond Nyege Nyege, it will continue into 2026 with residencies, mentorship, shared projects, and production support for musicians, filmmakers, visual artists, and performers. Ambassador Signe Winding Albjerg summed up the vision: “This week, Denmark is bringing young people together through culture, especially music, by supporting Africa’s first electronic music conference and creating The Hive, a space where creative minds can meet, connect, and spark new creative ideas to support entrepreneurship and growth in Uganda’s creative industries.”
Across the festival grounds, every stage erupted with energy from day one to the final sunrise. The five iconic stages, Hakuna Kulala, The Portal, Dark Star, Sunrise, and Ubuntu, served nonstop performances that festivalgoers online described simply as “INSANE.” Friday night’s standout moment belonged to Fik Fameica, whose 10 p.m. performance on The Portal Stage ignited the crowd and set the tone for the rest of the night. His later appearance at the Ubuntu Stage kept the momentum soaring and added an unforgettable layer of excitement to Day 2.
The momentum carried deep into the weekend. On Saturday night into Sunday morning, Masaka’s celebrated DJ Suuna Ben delivered what many called one of the most explosive dawn sets in Nyege Nyege’s history.
From 5 a.m. until sunrise, he kept revelers dancing endlessly, with branches and leaves swinging in the air, a signature tradition that returned with even greater intensity this year.
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This edition also broadened the festival experience beyond music. Cultural showcases, art installations, diverse hospitality zones, and immersive lighting and sound transformed the riverside landscape into a multi-sensory world.
New partnerships with Adrift Uganda and the Lemara Group introduced adventure tourism experiences, bungee jumping, rafting, ziplining, and river excursions, giving festivalgoers a thrilling blend of culture and adrenaline.
