Festivals
The festivals worth showing up for.
Art, music, and culture festivals across the world, Kenya first and in full, then East Africa, then the rest of the continent and the global anchors. Dates verified before they are listed. Run one? List it.
Kenya
Where we are, covered the closest.
- Nairobi, Kenya · dates to confirm Affordable Art Show Usually May, and a second edition later in the year A twice-yearly fair at the Nairobi National Museum putting hundreds of Kenyan artists’ original works within reach of new collectors.
- Athi River, Kenya · dates to confirm Africa Nouveau Festival Usually November A forward-looking Afrobubblegum festival of music, fashion, film, and art installations, camping under the stars where Nairobi’s creative future is on display.
- Kilifi, Kenya Beneath the Baobabs Festival 30 Dec 2026 to 1 Jan 2027 Kenya’s premier New Year destination festival, set in an ancient baobab forest on the coast: electronic music, live sets, art, and wellness.
- Nairobi, Kenya Blankets & Wine 2026 editions: 7 Jun, 6 Sep, 20 Dec East Africa’s flagship live-music picnic: Afro-fusion, soul, and the continent’s best new acts in the open air, a Nairobi institution since 2008.
- Kilifi, Kenya Kilifi Creek Festival 23 Oct 2026 to 31 Oct 2026 A coastal music, art, and watersports gathering on Kilifi Creek, blending Kenyan beach culture with live performance, the ocean and a soundtrack.
- Lamu, Kenya · dates to confirm Lamu Cultural Festival Usually late November A Swahili heritage festival on UNESCO-listed Lamu Island: dhow and donkey races, bao, henna, and Swahili music and food, a window into centuries-old coastal culture.
- Lamu, Kenya Lamu Yoga and Wellbeing Festival 2026: 14-19 Jul and 4-8 Nov A barefoot wellness festival in the car-free lanes of Lamu Old Town: hundreds of yoga, meditation, and movement classes against Swahili island life.
- Narok, Kenya · dates to confirm Maa Cultural Week Annual, dates vary, near the Maasai Mara A celebration of the Maa-speaking peoples with warrior dances, beadwork, storytelling, and traditional sport, an immersive look at living heritage.
- Loiyangalani, Kenya · dates to confirm Marsabit Lake Turkana Cultural Festival Dates confirmed Sept to Oct Where the desert meets Lake Turkana, more than a dozen northern Kenyan peoples gather to dance, sing, and trade in one of Africa’s most remote cultural gatherings.
- Mombasa, Kenya · dates to confirm Mombasa Carnival Usually November A street carnival down Moi Avenue where Mombasa’s many communities parade in colour, music, and dance, the coast’s biggest celebration of Kenya’s diversity.
- Naivasha, Kenya · dates to confirm Rift Valley Festival Usually late August Kenya’s pioneering international music festival on the shores of Lake Naivasha: a lakeside camping weekend of African and global sounds.
East Africa
The neighbourhood: Tanzania, Uganda, and beyond.
- Jinja, Uganda Nyege Nyege Festival 19 Nov 2026 to 22 Nov 2026 Four days of underground and experimental African electronic music on the banks of the Nile, 300-plus artists from 40-plus countries.
- Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania · dates to confirm Sauti za Busara Usually early February Africa’s friendliest music festival, in a 17th-century stone fortress in Stone Town with twenty-plus countries on the bill, by the Indian Ocean.
Across Africa
The continent, corner to corner.
- Tankwa Karoo, South Africa · dates to confirm AfrikaBurn Usually late April to early May A participant-built temporary city of large-scale art, fire, and radical self-expression in the remote Tankwa Karoo desert, Africa’s answer to Burning Man.
- Accra, Ghana Chale Wote Street Art Festival 10 Aug 2026 to 17 Aug 2026 Ghana’s wildest street-art takeover: the historic Jamestown district becomes a canvas of murals, performance, fashion, and music. Free, raw, unmissable.
- Dakar, Senegal Dak’Art, Dakar Biennale 19 Nov 2026 to 19 Dec 2026 The continent’s most important contemporary-art biennale, a month-long pan-African showcase across Dakar’s museums, streets, and OFF venues.
- Lagos, Nigeria · dates to confirm Felabration Usually mid-October A week-long tribute to Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti at the New Afrika Shrine, with nightly live music, art, and symposia, the heartbeat of Lagos’s October.
- Marrakech, Morocco Festival des Arts Populaires de Marrakech 2 Jul 2026 to 6 Jul 2026 Morocco’s grand folk-arts festival filling the Palais Badii and Jemaa el-Fna with dancers, musicians, and traditions from every region.
- Malkerns Valley, Eswatini · dates to confirm MTN Bushfire Festival Usually late May A globally celebrated Bring Your Fire festival of music, arts, and social change in Eswatini’s lush Malkerns Valley, eco-conscious and communal.
Around the world
The global anchors worth the long trip.
- Venice, Italy Biennale Arte, Venice 9 May 2026 to 22 Nov 2026 The world’s most prestigious contemporary-art exhibition, national pavilions and a curated show across Venice, the global benchmark for where art is heading.
- Black Rock Desert, United States Burning Man 30 Aug 2026 to 7 Sep 2026 The original temporary desert metropolis of monumental art, fire, and radical self-reliance, a city that exists for one week only.
- Edinburgh, United Kingdom Edinburgh Festival Fringe 7 Aug 2026 to 31 Aug 2026 The largest performing-arts festival on earth: thousands of theatre, comedy, and cabaret shows turning every corner of Edinburgh into a stage.