Kigali isn’t a place that’s known for its raging bar and club scene given the turnover rate in Kigali’s hospitality service sector. One is likely to get bored of the ‘going out’ options pretty quickly and would need to branch out a bit, from the usual Friday night offerings However, unlike the ever changing growth of nighttime businesses operating around the city, day time entertainment seems to have an unsteady presence in the city. Even as a new culture of outdoor daytime events in Rwanda, had begun to take root, events like Blankets and Wines have since decried lack of sponsors and closed shop. The first edition of Blankets and Wines, which took place in August last year saw a huge turn up and many people traveled from the region for the do. Organisers of Blankets and Wine Kigali edition promised another event the same year, but while it is doing well elsewhere, the Rwanda edition of Blankets and Wine is facing sponsorship huddles, which have hampered its growth. Lack of sponsorship has hampered other events such as Happy People, Black Party, Jambo Beach Party, Nyama Choma Extravanza, which have disappeared from the social scene. Veejay Nano of Urban Entertainment that organises events such as ‘meet and meat, attests to the fact that Kigali is quite a boring place during the day, save for the recreational activities for young children that are beginning to thrive, such as the Spiderman game center and the kids play area at Tedga’s, Kicukiro. “Daytime activities include almost all ages. I’ve seen kids’ recreational places booming which is a good thing, but for the adult daytime activities, people are tired of the same concepts ,” he says. DJ Miller, real name Virgil Karuranga who organises the weekly ‘Sunday Barbeque’ party, however disagrees with the claims. For him, Rwandans more than ever, are beginning to embrace daytime parties, only at a very slow pace. “Rwandans are just not used to daytime partying yet and so it will take time, but it’s getting better every day.People can now go out during day time and chill,” he says. While Kigali isn’t packed with obvious distractions, there are a number of fun things to keep one busy. Fazenda Sengha located at Mt. Kigali, Nyamirambo is such one place. It has activities such as zip lining, archery, horse riding and mountain walks. There are also hammocks where one can relax and trampolines for children to enjoy and on a clear day, one can enjoy panoramic views of the city after scaling the mountain’s summit. Mamba Club in Kimihurura, has also given ‘Kigalians’ the option of daytime fun with its bowling sport. However most of these day time activities are not advertised which makes it impossible to attract a regular and big clientele. Potential beacon of fun Meanwhile, Bill Nyirimihigo, proprietor of the recently closed Trophy’s bar, believes that with all the progress that the city and the country has made in the past few years, Kigali can become an even brighter beacon in the region as the ultimate location for tourists by becoming one of the most fun cities around. “With attractions such as outdoor paintball or laser tag, it could bring interest from locals and outsiders alike. I have seen pictures of the launch of a Go-Karting ring but it seems to have disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. I also believe fun activities such as Mini-Golf would fare well. The Car Free Zones are not used to their full potential and if their access was made easier for cultural fairs, festivals and food trucks, it would give everyone something to look forward to,” he says In his opinion, at a time when noise pollution laws are pausing a great challenge to events and entertainment businesses, daytime entertainment could be an absolute necessity if this city is to become a true regional hub. “If we want to keep attracting people to this city, we need to give them a reason to stay here and spend their money here.” he says. To his disappointment, even with the many beautiful gardens that are all over the city, they are really not put into good use. Nyirimihigo believes that allowing picnics to take place would have a positive impact on the city. Live Band artiste, Kiki Toure, of the Best Beat Band, blames the lack of popular and regular day time activities on the laid back culture of the Rwandan people and that it’s a just a matter of time before they ‘open up.’ “It is so true. I find Kigali boring during day time even though we from the entertainment field try to make it a bit different. I think the problem comes from the society, as Rwandans are more reserved and tend to do the same thing over and over and as a result, many fields have not been explored.” “Kigali can be more fun if the people accepted diversity in what they do to entertain themselves and changed their mindsets”. What needs to be done? Karuranga says that the only challenge organisers are facing is persuading people to attend even the few available events. For him it takes a lot of hard work in terms of advertising by promoters, event organisers and deejays, who ought to push hard, despite the hurdles, and organise many daily events. Nyirimihigo on the other hand, believes that City of Kigali officials should take responsibility in promoting and facilitating investments in recreational activities. “All the mentioned activities would easily be implemented with a little more effort from those in power. City Hall officials once held a few meetings asking for suggestions on how to best use the Car Free Zone but it never went any further. The restrictions on noise pollution are unclear and do more harm than good. More discussions with business owners before decisions and laws are passed would help everybody involved.” “Creating an outdoor food serving license would encourage people to start a small business for example, charging a small fee at the entrance of each public garden for clean-up would help contribute to their clean-up and put money in the city’s coffers. The opportunities and guidelines need to come from our leaders and innovation and entrepreneurship will follow,” he suggests. Nano however believes that to make daytime activities entertaining, more venues should be created by the city council. “There are no venues equipped to handle daytime events. Venues here either are in residential areas or they lack amenities needed to host such daytime events,” he says. He also thinks that the willingness by the corporate society and more so the corporate society and private companies operating in Rwanda need to step in and be willing to invest in some of these daytime events “This thing should be looked into by all bodies including MINISPOC and PSF. People need to recreate and have fun,” he says. How can Kigali’s day time entertainment be improved? It has to start with the people themselves. If they do not open up to more entertaining ideas, then event organisers are merely wasting their time. The City of Kigali needs to organise festivals and other recreational activities, more regularly to create a platform for other potential investors to have an audience. Norman Kagabo, IT Specialist *********************** I think it all requires patience. Rwandans are culturally laid back people and getting them from that zone will take some time. I would advise organisers to start small but also advertise more about these events. With time the people will adapt to change and begin to see the other side of the world. Steven Nkotanyi, driver *********************** I think Rwandans do want to party but maybe most of them don’t have the means. Not everybody is capable of buying tickets to parties every weekend, let alone buy drinks and food. Look at all the festivals organised by City of Kigali, they are always packed. Instead I think we need more of those, but also organisers need to come up with more and different concepts to make the entertainment scene livelier. Susan Twizere, student *********************** Someone needs to educate corporate companies about sponsoring entertainment events. Besides promoting their brand, it is a way of giving back to communities. It is disappointing for Rwandans to find very good entertaining ideas, only for them to stop at the initial stages simply because they lack sponsors. Rwanda is known to be a hospitable country, and it is possible to make it welcoming in all spheres. Rebekah Kunda, business woman editorial@newtimes.co.rw
