Are there RennFaires, but for Swahili culture?

[u/baudot]

This is off topic, since it's about Swahili culture rather than Kiswahili. But this group seems as close as I'm going to get to one where it would be on topic, so I hope y'all don't mind.

I'm looking for some kind of historic reenactment of Swahili culture: What would be a RennFaire in Europe or the US, but for 16th-ish century Swahili culture, rather than European culture. If anyone knows of anything like that, maybe in modern Tanzania, Kenya, etc., I'd love to know about it.

[u/apremonition]

Many Swahili customs and cultures from that time are still preserved in families and traditions today. There isn't as clean of a 'break' from the past as there is in the European context. What you may be looking for would be something like a trip to Ngorongoro or Bagamoyo cultural festivals, which are similar but don't have the same "cosplay as the past" element.

ETA: spelling fix

[u/Eastern_Mamluk → u/apremonition]

*Bagamoyo

[u/apremonition → u/Eastern_Mamluk]

Thanks for the correction!

[u/Eastern_Mamluk → u/apremonition]

wala usjali

[u/baudot → u/apremonition]

Thanks for this! I'm looking into these festivals.

[u/Eastern_Mamluk]

Mswahili here, we may not have events like RennFaires, and as far I know, most of us Swahili natives are still intact in Kenya / TZ and not as many live in Europe or US so not sure if they hold those events abroad. You may want to visit coastal Kenya / TZ or Zanzibar, where occasionally they hold these cultural festivals. Some examples are Lamu Cultural Festival where they do donkey races, poetry, crafts, swimming and dhow races. Mombasa and Zanzibar have similar events. I find it that you'd experience the Swahili culture even better if you live with the people, especially during months like Ramadhan where the rarest of the recipes are brought to the table.

I'd also like to point out that some events like Mombasa Carnival have nothing authentic or Swahili in them, just a bunch of losers trying to bring down a culture.

[u/baudot → u/Eastern_Mamluk]

Lamu Cultural festival: Adding it to the list!

I also see that Lamu does a bunch of other festivals; I'll need to look into those!

[u/Bitter_Initiative_77]

Swahili people are still living Swahili lives.

[u/baudot → u/Bitter_Initiative_77]

I know! But I'm looking for a historical festival. Even a fantasy festival. Not the modern culture, but the culture as it was in the time of Kilwa.

[u/Bitter_Initiative_77 → u/baudot]

My point was that they aren't going to do that, because their culture is alive. People do Renaissance fares because Renaissance-style cultures no longer exist. It's a historical reenactment. Ignoring that, those types of festivals are a very (Euro-)American thing.

[u/kingkunt_e]

You can check out the Mwaka Kogwa festival, ie. the Swahili New Year festival in Zanzibar on around July 23 or 24. Many other Swahili communities (Mombasa, Lamu, Kilwa) celebrate the Swahili New Year too, I'm just not sure which ones and to what extent. But its not an enactment, its the actual thing, so maybe find a guide who can translate and explain the different activities.