Outrage over parliament's September 6 ban on this festival - one of the most popular in East Africa - has finally forced the government to maintain it this weekend in Jinja, while banning it for minors.

And thousands of festival-goers, including many Western tourists, were able to sing and dance to the rhythm of the many artists who came from all over Africa for the Nyege Nyege, a four-day music festival which ends on Sunday.

"I only heard about the festival when it was banned for 'immorality' by the Ugandan authorities," David Kempson, a 31-year-old British engineer who came to Uganda specifically for the event, told AFP. he had never set foot in Africa.

Parliament had censured him, accusing him of "promoting immorality": sex, homosexuality, drug use...

This unexpected publicity allowed the Nyege Nyege to be sold out, with more than 12,000 participants, including some 5,000 foreign tourists.

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"We are heading towards a much larger number of sales than we had anticipated," Arlen Dilsizian, one of the festival's co-founders, told AFP.

The ban sparked "interest and fervor for the festival", he acknowledged, noting that tourists had come from the United States, China, Europe and the Middle East.

This is the second time that a ban has targeted Nyege Nyege - which takes its name from an expression in Luganda denoting an irresistible urge to dance, but which can also have more sexual connotations in other local dialects.

In 2018, former Ethics Minister Simon Lokodo, a devout Catholic and outspoken homophobe, described the festival as "an orgy of homosexuality, nudity and drugs", an event "close to the worship of the devil".

Created in 2015, but suspended due to covid in 2020 and 2021, the festival moved this year to a new outdoor site, that of Itanda Falls, in Jinja.

"A unique festival"

Its organizers refute any accusation of "orgy" and point out that security has been reinforced, to respect a government directive against "contraband, narcotics, vulgarity conveyed by language, songs and behavior".

Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi warned that in the event of serious offences, such as "sex orgies and nudity", the police would clear the site.

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Despite the presence of a police van equipped with cameras and remote-controlled drones, fans remained unfazed, determined to savor the excitement and the chance to see famous musicians like 80-year-old Cameroonian Eko Roosevelt.

"When I come for Nyege Nyege, I become free, I meet people from all over Africa and elsewhere, we laugh and we dance, the stress goes away," Pamela Nyinabangi, 27, told AFP. , owner of a beauty salon in Kampala, the capital.

Another participant, Isaac Odwor, a Kenyan businessman, underlined that the festival was "the only event where African music is highlighted and where (the public can) interact with musicians and artists".

This year's show takes place against the backdrop of an economic crisis, as the prices of key commodities, from fuel to food, rise in the wake of war in Ukraine.

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From street food vendors to craft jewelry makers, many Ugandans hoped the festival would improve their lot as tourists flocked to the venue to listen to music, bathe in the Nile or go rafting.

After holding a first international edition of Nyege Nyege in Paris on July 16, the organizers are planning a meeting in Cameroon next year.

"It's a really unique festival," Tom Uragallo, a young British festival-goer, told AFP.

“We bathe in the Nile in the morning and we dance all night long to African rhythms”.

© 2022 AFP