It was a display of talent as the Rwanda Turn Up kicked off in Northern Province on Saturday. Residents of Musanze town and nearby areas thronged the district’s Ubworoherane stadium to see the artistes perform.

‘Rwanda Turn Up’, is a countrywide music tour, organised by The Preeminence Ltd, a Belgian-based company that seeks to boost the local music industry.

The show will run until September 2, as five artistes perform in different parts of the country. They are Social Mulla, Oda Paccy, Bruce Melodie and Dream Boys.

To kick off the show, MCs Phil Peter and Brian, warmed up the crowd with a few jokes, before the first artiste emerged on the stage at 9p.m. Paccy was the first on stage, belting out her tracks Umusirimu, No body and Love ya Weekend, which got the crowd singing and dancing along.

Next on stage was Dream Boys , a singing duo of Claude Mujyanama aka TMC, and Platini Nemeye, who kept the R&B genre alive. The pair performed their popular tunes Bucece, 70(mirongo irindwi), Isano and Karina, to the delight of the crowd. Then it was Social Mula’s turn to showcase his talent. The Humura singer worked the crowd to screams with Amahitamo, Abanyakigali, Ndakwifuza and Rurayunguruye, before he vacated the stage to pave way for rapper Bull Dog, who didn’t disappoint the audience.

It was a long wait for people, who were eagerly looking forward to Bruce Melodie’s performance. When the singer came on the stage, the crowd went into frenzy, chanting his name. He performed Ntidukina, Turaberanye, Complete Me, Umutwe, Ntundize and Ikinya, his latest hit.

On August 19, the tour will head to Kayonza District, before coming to Kigali the following weekend. It will conclude in Rubavu District on September 2.

According to Olivier Tuyishimire, the organiser, the show provides a platform for local musicians to showcase their talent and will help boost local entertainment.

"What we want is to change the face of the local music industry and restore the value of musicians. We are focusing on the music industry as one of the industries that we think is still lagging behind,” he said.