Economy

Four-day Lamu art festival set to start Thursday

TOURISTS

The festivals are expected to attract both local and international tourists throughout the year. PHOTO | FILE

Hundreds of local and international art enthusiasts are expected to flock to Lamu for a four-day art festival starting Thursday.

The county, dubbed Island of Festivals, will launch the festival at Mkunguni Square to offer local artistes the opportunity to display their traditional handicraft and paintings.

Art plays a key role in preserving the rich cultural heritage of the islanders’ prowess in making furniture, sea vessels, wood carvings, jewellery and calligraphy.

The islanders are renowned for making the famous Lamu doors, traditional dhows, artifacts and henna paintings for centuries.

According to Lamu County tourism director Ali Mohamed, the festival will be a forum for celebrating traditional visual arts as well as offering local and international artistes space to exhibit contemporary art.

Activities at the event include an art workshop, a handicraft fair, a gallery walk, the Shela hat contest, a junior art competition, a music concert and the popular “mad hatters” dhow race.

Mr Mohamed said the county has partnered up with the Lamu Tourism Association to host the festival. The county, he said, plans to hold monthly events in a bid to revive the ailing tourism sector.

The festivals are expected to attract both local and international tourists throughout the year.

Lamu has experienced a tourism slump for the last five years due to frequent terrorist attacks.

For instance, the Somalia-based Al-Shabaab group attacked residents of Mpeketoni in June 2014 killing more than 60.