The annual Kwale County cultural festival that is meant to create awareness about the local culture and promote tourism is in top gear.
Some of the activities lined up for the festival include showcasing the traditional attires, group choirs, poems, solo verses, instrumental plays, traditional dances and sacred folklores among others.
Hundreds of participants from all over the 20 wards in the county are battling it out in the various categories as the festival begins in earnest.
Governor Salim Mvurya who graced the launch of the extravaganza at the Kwale Cultural Centre pledged that his administration will continue to identify and promote culture and talents.
He added that the devolved unit has given its support to the festival since the inception of devolution in 2013 as a veritable tool of attracting tourists and investors. “It is our motto since 2013 to identify, nurture and promote young talents and our culture. We shall continue with the same for the sake of posterity,” he said.
The occasion was also used to select the county teams to represent it at the national festivals slated for Mombasa from next week. “Our vision is to embrace our ethnic diversity, promote talent as well as develop our community driven cultural activities for livelihoods whilst promoting the tourism industry in our county,” said Mvurya.
The county boss said cultural and ethnic diversity should not separate and divide the people but rather bring a collective strength that can benefit all adding that tourists and visitors will be entertained and exposed to the rich cultural heritage of the local people.
The Governor who was accompanied by his Deputy, Fatuma Achani, and the County Executive for Culture, Ramadhan Bungale, said as a county, they are happy because of the cultural festival and called upon residents to engage in tourism so as to benefit from the value chain.
The two-term Governor said his administration is committed to invest in culture and the tourism industry for socio-economic prosperity.
By Hussein Abdullahi
