After six months of preparations, globally acclaimed African Underground champion Nyege Nyege Festival launches its 6th Edition.

Over the 4-days/nights program, expect a FLOOD of live performances from all over Africa, total mayhem. The approach is punk and gutsy and as accessible as possible for viewers in Uganda, Africa and worldwide; there will be no pay wall, the show will broadcast on the Nyege Nyege Facebook YouTube and website and on free-to-air Ugandan national TV station NBS LIVE.

The experience is totally free with no donation asked but Nyege Nyege have created a way for viewers to directly support all the artists involved; the mother of all compilation albums titled called “The Spirit of 2020” and available on their Bandcamp today.

The compilation will be available for a limited time till the end of December as way to fairly support the artists playing. Featuring 40 tracks it will showcase many new voices and debut releases from the continent. It will feature contributions from Duma, Gabber Modus Operandi, Elvin Brandhi, Eckobass, MC Yallah, Menzi, DJ Skothane, Badsist, footwork producer EQ Why, Eckobass, 3XOJ, Bampa Pana, Slikback, RS Producoes, Jako Maron and Afrorack.

Meanwhile – the Nyege Nyege take over of the Ugandan national TV station NBS LIVE will be a historic broadcasting first. The festival will have opening ceremonies and opening drink with all the participants at 18:00 Kampala time, then a short documentary by Indian collective WVLGTH about the 2019 edition, kicking off all teh fun with the live set from DJ Kampire on an island on with the breathtaking backdrop of the source of the mighty Nile.

The scope of the digital festival is huge and unprecedented; including 96 hours of music and art from over 350 artists presented by 45 African and Afro-centric collectives, a film program, fitness, cooking and dance workshops, dance performances and a pan African dance battle, puppet shows from Central Africa, performance art, an online art gallery and even a Haitian hypnotist. The Festival is a symbol of resilience, creativity and solidarity in the face of the global pandemic.

Also launching at the opening ceremony is a 15 minute documentary filmed in 2019 in Jinja, Uganda; titled “Nyege Nyege : An Irresistible Urge To Dance” (trailer here). Filmed at the 2019 festival it was created by WAVLNGTH, a music and culture agency based in Mumbai, India run by Aneesha Kotwani and its launching this afternoon before the opening ceremony.

For those who live in Uganda, Nyege Nyege has marshalled the country’s famous network of motorcycle taxis – or boda boda as they are called in East Africa to deliver party package, discounted food and drinks from partner restaurants in Kampala as well as nyege masks and t-shirts, sound systems and mixologists. The result will be a de-centralized network of private parties across the city. There will be one secret official Nyege Nyege party outside the city for a limited number of attendees selected from those registering on the website, following strict Covid-secure procedures. The secret party will also be available online to those who find the “magic key” on the website.

What started with a small gathering at the Source of the Nile has now become a global phenomenon. This year the notorious Nyege Nyege Collective from Kampala brings the spotlight on Africa by inviting some of the most influential music and arts collectives from the continent, together with Afro-centric collectives from around the world and across many disciplines. The online platform was specially designed by Jepchumba; founder of African Digital Art. The festival provides a totally immersive, mesmerizing African party experience, diving deep into the cauldron of contemporary African music and its wider diaspora.

Despite this year’s physical limitations, Nyege Nyege’s vision remains the same: to declutter the global culture space of an old idea of what contemporary African music is about, to break existing and oppressive stereotypes, to create more equitable access to international markets for African creatives and provide a space for diverse voices from the musical underground to connect with one another.