Bell Oba Fest leaves fans wanting more

With an Afrofuturism theme, a few guests got the dress code right at Jahazi Pier on Sunday, October 22, 2023 during the Bell Oba Fest, a beer and partying festival that unites various genres of music and cultures.

Most guests dressed their own way, with the women donning skimpy dresses.

As with other events, the evening seemed to be about meeting and greeting, taking selfies, and catching up with old friends.

It was Nana hitmaker Joshua Baraka, who started off the night with an amazing performance that fired up the crowds at about 7:30pm.

He performed four songs before charming the crowds with the latest hit, Omukwano and later the popular Nana.

As they say, a festival without DJs is like a Zoom meeting. Several DJs turned up the crowds with different mixes, including Slick Stuart and Roja and DJ Lynda Ddane.

There was entertainment from Mun*G, who hasn't had a hit in a while. Despite performing his old songs, he was still a hit with the guests.

In the middle of her performance, Spice Diana was taken up by the vibes in the crowds, jumping on to other artistes' songs before she surprised revellers with the Omuchere Munyama vibes.

Kenya's Bensoull's performance didn’t seem to attract the attention of revellers since most Ugandans didn’t relate to his type of music.

It was Kenya's Nyashinski who brought back revellers' vibes that had been turned down by Bensoul.

Nyashinski's performance was top-notch, exciting, and inspiring as he performed songs such as Mungu Pekee, Bebi Bebi and the most loved one was the Malaika song that got everyone singing.

After Nyashinski, DJ Roja got the crowds warming up for the next artistes to step on stage. It was a confusing moment as it was hard to tell what Ugandans wanted between the DJ mixes and artistes' performances as they didn’t want the DJ to stop the party.

 Azawi carried the same energy to Jahazi from her Sankofa album launch concert at the Kampala Serena Hotel on October 20, exciting fans as she performed songs such as My Year and Slow Dancing.

After the Azawi performance, the long-awaited artiste of the day - Tanzania's Harmonize - came up on stage amid cheers and heavy chants.

He came up with an extraordinary vibe, kicking off with his song titled Am Single.