KwitaIzina
The annual KwitaIzina gorilla-naming ceremony is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit Volcanoes National Park if you want to get away from the city and into nature. Visitors can join a multi-day guided tour from Kigali leading up to the main event, during which they will meet park staff and leading conservationists, attend cultural evenings and a celebration in Musanze, tour the lesser-visited lakes Burero and Ruhondo, and finally attend the naming ceremony, during which there will be music, dancing, and discussion on Rwanda's great strides in gorilla conservation and protection.
Kigali UP
Kigali UP, Rwanda's largest music festival, has quickly grown to become one of the best in Africa since its inception in 2011. Every year, generally during the northern summer months, they bring in local and worldwide reggae, blues, hip-hop, and pop bands to entertain an equally international crowd with music from throughout the world. Every year, hundreds of fans attend, yet the event remains intimate and personal, with the same musicians who performed on stage the night before teaching them how to play the drums the next morning.
Rwanda Film Festival
For over 10 years, the Rwanda Film Festival, often known as 'Hillywood,' has brought films from Rwanda, Africa, and around the world to Kigali. While the festival is based in Kigali, it also travels to villages and towns around Rwanda, playing films and hosting public workshops in its pop-up theater.
Hobe Rwanda Festival
Since its inception in 2013, the Hobe Rwanda Festival has been a prominent fixture on Kigali's cultural calendar. Hobe organizes a two-day festival in September to exhibit local musicians, artists, and dancers, with a particular emphasis on Rwandan culture. International artists are also represented here, but if you want to experience real-life Rwandan talent, come to Hobe.
Fashion
Kigali is now cosmopolitan enough to host not one, but two fashion events each year, which would have been impossible only a few years ago. These events provide fashionistas and those on the cutting edge of style a fantastic opportunity to observe the cultural fusion of western and Rwandan trends that the country's top designers negotiate and develop daily. Kigali Fashion Week, held in July, has hundreds of foreign, local, and emerging young designers, whilst Rwanda Cultural Fashion Week, held in September, features even more local and international talent.
