The inaugural banana beer festival is set to begin tomorrow, October 14. It will run for three days at Red Rocks Rwanda, a cultural tourism centre located at the foot of Volcanoes National Park in Musanze District.

The three-day event is aimed at celebrating local brews as part of the efforts to promote domestic tourism. The event will feature various activities such as demonstration of banana beer making, musical performances from local artistes, story narration, and poetry all with purely a touch of Rwandan culture. 

According to Greg Bakunzi, the cofounder of Red Rocks, the Banana Beer Festival has been initiated as part of giving people an opportunity to learn more about beer making and enough time to test different kinds of local beers with a view to market local products.

"We have had several events where there’s that part of banana beer demonstration, but we think people have not had ample time and opportunity to learn and test the various kinds of local beers that our communities make. This is why we want to have this part as a separate event, and hopefully local products will gain more visibility than before,” said Bakunzi.

He noted that a competition for the best made banana beer cocktail will be held during the festival. Rwandan beverages including Urwagwa (banana beer), Ikigage (sorghum beer) will be on offer.

The event comes at a time when Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has initiated a campaign to promote domestic tourism. Like other events, this may also serve as a platform for people to experience what Rwanda can offer. 

According to the organisers, 17 music groups are lined up for the entire festival. With beer and music at the venue, guests are sure to find their tastes and plenty of fun. The free beer and music extravaganza kicks off Friday till Sunday – from 3pm to 8p.m.

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