Lake Turkana Cultural Festival Tobong'u Lore | |
---|---|
Frequency | Annually |
Location(s) | Turkana County, including Lodwar and Loiyangalani |
Years active | 2008–present |
Inaugurated | June 1, 2008 |
Attendance | Thousands |
Budget | 33-70 million Kenyan shillings |
The Tobong'u Lore, known in English as the Lake Turkana Cultural Festival, is a celebration of indigenous culture held every spring in Turkana, northern Kenya. [1] [2] The festival is hosted by a number of indigenous communities adjacent to the lake, and is meant to promote peace, cultural exchange, and tourism. [2] [1] [3] [4] The El Molo people host the festival in Loiyangalani every June, [1] and the Turkana people host the festival in Lodwar in April. [2] The Tobong'u Lore is considered among the largest of cultural festivals in Kenya, and has become a venue for appearances by prominent Kenyan politicians. [1] [5] [6]
The festival in Loiyangalani was first held in 2008 as a mechanism of promoting peace and cooperation among the communities that border Lake Turkana. [1] In Lodwar, the festival began being held in 2014. [2] Participating communities, which extend across national borders, include the Turkana, the Dassanech, the Samburu, the Somali, the Borana, the Gabbra, the Rendille, the Sakuye, the Wata, the Burji, the Garee, the Konso, and the El Molo people. [1] [3] The festival's creation was supported by the National Museums of Kenya and the German Government, and coincided with the opening of a museum in the town. [1] [4]
The festival attracts thousands of visitors every year. [1] [7] Some visitors are from countries that border Kenya, including Ethiopia, Sudan, and Uganda. [1] [7] A delegation from Nigeria has also attended. [5] Turkana County officials state that the festival is intended in part to promote tourism and development. [1] The Tobong'u Lore is one of a number of initiatives advanced by the Kenyan government to promote cultural tourism and preserve local culture among smaller ethnic groups in Kenya. [4]
The phrase "Tobong'u Lore" is described as meaning "welcome back home" in the Turkana language. [2] The phrase is a reference to the archaeological and paleontological heritage of the Turkana Basin. [8]
In 2019 Turkana officials reduced spending on the festival from 70 million Kenyan Shillings to 33, diverting funds to address a local drought crisis. [5]
The festival features local culture, nature, and archeological heritage. [1] Participants wear traditional attire during ceremonies. [2] Activities include a three-day carnival, with music and dance from local groups, and speeches by local leaders. [1] [8] [7] Consistent with local customs, the festivities continue after sundown. [1]
Exhibitions promote local crafts and food. [2] [7] [3] The protection of wildlife is another theme addressed by the festival. [7]
Many Kenyan officials have attended the festival, and some politicians have used the event to make announcements related to political campaigns or policies. [8] [9] [6] [5] In 2019 the festival was attended by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and by the Deputy President William Ruto; [5] in 2020 Governor Kivutha Kibwana used the festival as a venue to announce his bid for the presidency in upcoming elections. [6]
Cultural tourism is a type of tourism activity in which the visitor's essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions/products in a tourism destination. These attractions/products relate to a set of distinctive material, intellectual, spiritual, and emotional features of a society that encompasses arts and architecture, historical and cultural heritage, culinary heritage, literature, music, creative industries and the living cultures with their lifestyles, value systems, beliefs and traditions.
Lake Turkana, formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. By volume it is the world's fourth-largest salt lake after the Caspian Sea, Issyk-Kul, and Lake Van, and among all lakes it ranks 24th.
The Turkana are a Nilotic people native to the Turkana County in northwest Kenya, a semi-arid climate region bordering Lake Turkana in the east, Pokot, Rendille and Samburu people to the south, Uganda to the west, and South Sudan and Ethiopia to the north.
Lodwar is the largest town in north-western Kenya, located west of Lake Turkana on the A1 road. Its main industries are basket weaving and tourism. The Loima Hills lie to its west. Lodwar is the capital of Turkana County. The town has a population of 82,970 in 2019.
Loiyangalani was a small town located on the southeastern coast of Lake Turkana in Kenya. The town has a population of 5,117. Loiyangalani means "a place of many trees" in the native Samburu tongue. It is home to Turkana people and was founded near a freshwater spring in the 1960s where the El Molo people live. Its main industries include fishing, tourism and gold panning. It is a popular tourist destination in Northern Kenya, as the surrounding El Molo and Turkana villages offer unique experiences.
The Constant Gardener is a 2005 drama thriller film directed by Fernando Meirelles. The screenplay by Jeffrey Caine is based on John le Carré's 2001 novel of the same name. The story follows Justin Quayle, a British diplomat in Kenya, as he tries to solve the murder of his wife Tessa, an Amnesty activist, alternating with many flashbacks telling the story of their love.
Turkana County is a county in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya. It is Kenya's largest county by land area, and also its northwesternmost. It is bordered by the countries of Uganda to the west; South Sudan and Ethiopia, including the disputed Ilemi Triangle, to the north and northeast; and Lake Turkana to the east. To the south and east, neighbouring counties in Kenya are West Pokot, Baringo and Samburu Counties, while Marsabit County is on the opposite shore of Lake Turkana. Turkana's capital and largest town is Lodwar. The county had a population of 926,976 at the 2019 census.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lodwar is a diocese located in the city of Lodwar in the Ecclesiastical province of Kisumu in Kenya.
El Molo is an extinct language belonging to the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. It was spoken by the El Molo people on the southeastern shore of Lake Turkana, in northern Kenya. Alternate names to El Molo are Dehes, Elmolo, Fura-Pawa, and Ldes. It was thought to be extinct in the middle part of the 20th century, but a few speakers were found in the later 20th century. However, it may now be truly extinct, as the eight speakers found in a survey published in 1994 were over 50. Most of the El Molo population have shifted to the neighboring Samburu language. El Molo also has no known dialects but it is similar to Daasanach
Heritage commodification is the process by which cultural themes and expressions come to be evaluated primarily in terms of their exchange value, specifically within the context of cultural tourism. These cultural expressions and aspects of heritage become "cultural goods"; transformed into commodities to be bought, sold and profited from in the heritage tourism industry. In the context of modern globalization, complex and often contradictory layers of meaning are produced in local societies, and the marketing of one's cultural expressions can degrade a particular culture while simultaneously assisting in its integration into the global economy. The repatriation of profits, or "leakage", that occurs with the influx of tourist capital into a heritage tourist site is a crucial part of any sustainable development that can be considered beneficial to local communities. Modern heritage tourism reproduces an economic dynamic that is dependent upon capital from tourists and corporations in creating sustained viability. Tourism is often directly tied to economic development, so many populations see globalization as providing increased access to vital medical services and important commodities.
Kivutha Kibwana is a Kenyan politician and human rights activist. He was Minister for Defence, Minister for Environment and a former member of parliament for the Makueni Constituency. He is also a former advisor to President Mwai Kibaki. Prof. Kibwana is currently serving his second term as the first Governor of Makueni County.
Lake Turkana Wind Power Project (LTWP) is a wind farm in Kenya. It is located in Loiyangalani District, in Marsabit County, approximately 545 kilometres (339 mi) by road north of Nairobi, Kenya's capital city. The wind farm covers 160 square kilometres and has a capacity of 310 MW, enough to supply one million homes. It comprises 365 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 850 kilowatts. The associated overhead electric grid distribution system and a high voltage substation that connect it to the national grid.
The El Molo, also known as Elmolo, Dehes, Fura-Pawa and Ldes, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the northern Eastern Province of Kenya. They historically spoke the El Molo language as a mother tongue, an Afro-Asiatic language of the Cushitic branch, and now most El Molo speak Samburu.
Ukur Yatani Kanacho is a Kenyan politician and ambassador, and was appointed as Treasury Secretary on 14 January 2020.
Loiyangalani–Suswa High Voltage Power Line is a high voltage electricity power line in Kenya, connecting the high voltage substation at Loyangalani, in Marsabit County, to another high voltage substation at Suswa, in Narok County.
The Turkana Geothermal Power Station, is a 140 megawatts (187,743 hp) geothermal power station under development in Kenya.
Friends of Lake Turkana (FoLT) is a nonprofit organization in Kenya that was founded in 2007 by Kenyan environmentalist Ikal Angelei. The organization has worked to stop the construction of the Ethiopian Gilgel Gibe III Dam on the Omo River, Lake Turkana's primary source of water. Due to FoLT and other partner's advocacy work on saving Lake Turkana, the Lake was added to the list of world Heritage sites in Danger by UNESSCO in June 2018.
Silverstone Air Services Limited, trading as Silverstone Air, was a privately owned airline in Kenya, licensed by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority with an air operator's certificate.
African Heritage House is a national monument in Kenya, classified and gazetted under the National Museums and Heritage Act in 2016. Designed by Alan Donovan, built to preserve forgotten architectural designs of the African continent. The house is facing the Nairobi national park, and the public can visit the house for a tour, lunches, dinners, events, conferences, and overnight stays.
The Wajir Museum is a museum located in northeastern Kenya. The museum is in charge of showing the different cultures that inhabit Wajir. The museum is managed by the state-owned National Museums of Kenya Corporation. This is the first museum in Wajir County.