Otiato GuguyuYou have seen the traffic jams, and that is just the tip of it, all flights have been booked, bus schedules filled and all private cars hired just to get our people back to the lake.
There is a spectacular beauty of the lands around the Great Lake INyanza that draws back its people to the slopes of undulating rocky hills sloping rapidly and flattening all the way to the source of the Nile.
The epic traffic jams and the mad rush home to Christmas is the stubborn reminder that beyond all logic and economics, we are still drawn to the ancient hearth, the cradle of mankind.
But it is not just sentimental, the party on these shores are worthy the struggle to return to paradise.
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A festival of sorts is thrown all across its shores from our Isambo festival in Budalangi, Rusinga Festival in Homabay, Piny Luo in Siaya and now the largest RnB party outside Nairobi, Kisumu Old School and RnB Brunch.
A bunch of millennials in white
There is something daring when you tell adults what to do. So when Brenda and Bakhita told us to go to a new location for the third edition of Kisumu Old School RnB Brunch, while dressed in white, even they were testing the limits of their appeal.
Tom Mboya labour college does not just drop on Google map, if you are not careful it will send you to Homabay instead. You have to be specific about the Kisumu one and then you’ll get dragged towards Dunga and get tempted by the many alternatives down that road, it takes a fan to stay the course.
They had indicated that revellers use gate 3; but they might have as well said just follow the car in front of you because all of them led straight to the venue, parked back up and lined four streets of upmarket Milimani area.
And out poured crowds of adults giddy with excitement, dressed up in all white. The party was simply electric, parked to the brim with vibes and vibes.
I am never one for convention, but Nyarsindo got the better of me and had me come out dapper in all white, that I fit right in.
Dancing in the rain
If by any chance Brenda and Bakhita at some point doubted that they had moved too fast to a larger space, the crowd validated their daring.
They had hired a large tent that could hold several hundreds but crowds of white clad adults were so many they outpoured beyond It. And this was no party just for the colour the Revelers loved their music.
Kisumu has been raining most afternoons and the weather predicted it would rain early evening. Revelers jockingly asked the Bunyore who had rainmaker uncles to ask the rain to pass, and it almost did.
Unlike in the weather predictions the rain did not come down early evening, the dark clouds gathered over the Revelers calling ourselves white angles dancing in paradise, but then cracked open and appeared to disperse.
Just when we were thinking we were really white angels in a heaven where Wanyore can wave away the rain, it started coming down, lightly testingly.
But either the music was too good, the food too enticing, the alcohol hitting register just right, but the rain cooled us rather than pour enough to stop the party.
The bodies of white continued to dance in the light drizzle, and we’ll into the late night, true to the lyrics and music videos of dancing in the rain singing love songs.
Rise of the city on the Great Lake INyanza
When I first met Brenda and Bakhita we were shooting their first podcast at Seamless Studios hoping to promote a second show.
They had just birthed the idea of an RnB party. It was an idea that had sat with them for a while, but like me they had beloved the narrative that you cannot hold a big party in Kisumu.
I had heard that a lot, this year especially when shows as big as the once ina 50 year chance to host Festac Africa was failing disgrace.
Kisumu it seemed just did not have the wallet for it, or could not be reached. Promoting shows was done on posters and billboards and we were even told choosing some locations guaranteed failure
Then they had dared to dream and had become an instant hit. And because the had been more successful than they anticipated, they had became daring enough to try again.
Ripe for the taking
The first show Seamless Studios covered was Vinyl Addiction at Urban Radio City which attracted a sizable crowd. To me, who had just come into Kisumu city, this convinced me there was a decent party crowd out here.
When Brenda and Bakhita hosted the first Old School Brunch at the same venue, throwing in more decor, online marketing and social media the party scene was unlocked. Since then the crowd has multiplied and this show will be the biggest party to look out for in 2025.
Kisumu Old School RnB Brunch is officially the new Kisumu sub culture. Whatever Brenda and Bakhita will come up with for the next edition will fly off the shelf.
The new vibesetters have rattled the market which means that as consumers the City is about to upgrade our entertainment.
What I like most about it, is that it shows us that great potential and ideas among our people can be turned into successful businesses if they dare to dream.
Next time when our people migrate to the shores of the Great Lake INyanza tag along, people fly from yurop just to witness these parties.
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