KigaliUp! Festival

Kigali Up is a music festival in Kigali featuring world music, reggae, funk, blues, hip hop and roots artists from around the globe.

Kigali Up’s musical palette embraced Rwanda’s three ancient musical expressions: Batwa Intwatwa songs, rhythmic Bahutu soundscapes and Batutsi pastoral melodies, plus other sounds birthed from Africa’s deep, diverse musical traditions - world music, folk, blues, hip hop, funk, gospel and reggae.

KigaliUp! gave Rwandan music a new, central platform, and its musicians fresh exposure to international performers and new sounds and performance approaches.

KigaliUp helps celebrate Rwanda as an economic and social success story that brings people to see the mountain gorillas, beautiful landscape, artisan markets, villages and lakes.

The first annual KigaliUp music festival was held in September 2011 at Primature Park in Kigali, Rwanda. The brainchild of Juno award-winning Rwandan/Canadian artist Mighty Popo, it was a ground-breaking affair where 30 artists from Rwanda, Africa, Canada and Europe shared their music and culture to an audience of 2000 people, staffed by a volunteer base of 70 people.