Uganda Festivals and Celebrations

Before any of what follows: at the time of writing the Ugandan government has imposed temporary restrictions on mass gatherings in response to an Ebola outbreak, explicitly including concerts, festivals, rallies, community celebrations and races. If you are traveling for an event, confirm it is going ahead before you book anything around it.

Martyrs Day, and the largest gathering in the country

3 June is Martyrs Day, commemorating the Ugandan Christians executed in the late nineteenth century. The shrine at Namugongo, outside Kampala, draws pilgrims in enormous numbers, many of whom walk for days from across Uganda and from neighboring countries to arrive on the day.

It is a religious occasion rather than a spectacle, and it is the single largest annual gathering in Uganda. A visitor is welcome and should behave as a visitor at a pilgrimage rather than at an attraction. Roads around Namugongo and eastern Kampala are affected for days.

The kingdoms mark their own calendars

Buganda observes the Kabaka's birthday, marked in recent years by a mass public run that raises money for a chosen health cause, and the anniversary of the Kabaka's coronation. Busoga, Bunyoro, Toro and Ankole hold their own royal occasions.

These are cultural rather than national holidays and they are not always widely advertised outside the kingdom concerned. If you want to see one, the kingdom's own channels are the reliable source and a tour operator is the practical one.

Uganda's Independence Day is 9 October.

Nyege Nyege

Nyege Nyege is an international electronic and African music festival held near Jinja on the Nile, and it has become one of the best known music events on the continent, drawing a large international audience over several days.

It has also been politically contested inside Uganda, with attempts to ban or restrict it on moral grounds in some years, and it has been subject to cancellation. Anyone planning a trip around it should treat the dates as provisional until confirmed, and that was true before the current gathering restrictions.

Living traditions rather than festivals

Much of what is most worth seeing is not on a calendar. Bigwala, the gourd trumpet music and dance of the Busoga Kingdom, is performed at royal occasions and is on UNESCO's Urgent Safeguarding List, inscribed in 2012. The Imbalu circumcision ceremonies of the Bagisu around Mbale are held in even numbered years and are a major regional occasion.

Imbalu in particular is a serious rite and not a show. If you are invited, go with someone who can explain what is happening and what is expected of you; if you are not invited, do not attend as a spectator.