This November, Uganda’s most influential sustainable fashion festival returns with an even
bolder vision. Now in its sixth annual edition, Kwetu Kwanza, East Africa’s leading platform for
circular and regenerative fashion, will unfold against the breathtaking backdrop of Kalagala
Falls in Kayunga District from 20–23 November 2025.
Founded by the acclaimed fashion label IGC Fashion, known for advancing indigenous and
regenerative design in Uganda, Kwetu Kwanza takes its name from the Swahili phrase meaning “Ours First.” The festival’s philosophy is simple yet radical: the planet must come first. By bringing together designers, filmmakers, performers, artists, and cultural practitioners, it interrogates the ethics, origins, and impact of what we wear, acting as a countercurrent to global extractive systems and challenging narrow, Western-centric definitions of sustainability that too often overlook Africa’s long-standing traditions of responsible making.
This year marks a milestone collaboration. For the first time, Kwetu Kwanza will be staged
on-site at the Nyege Nyege Festival, deepening a partnership that began last year with Jinja
in the City. The convergence of these two major cultural movements expands the conversation: connecting music, fashion, dance, and theatre into one dynamic space. In African traditions, these art forms were never separate, and through new collaborations between designers, musicians, and the textile and audio fields, developed within residencies at Nyege Villa and the IGC Fashion Residency, this partnership signals a new creative rhythm for the region.
Nyege Nyege celebrates its 10th anniversary this year under the theme “Ekigunda Ky’Omuliro – The Gathering of the Flame.” With over 300 artists performing across six stages, the festival once again “re-opens the portal” at the source of the Nile, and Kwetu Kwanza stands as that very portal. Its 2025 theme, “What Can Emerge from Collapse?”, invites reflection on creative rebirth in times of disruption.
Just as Nyege Nyege’s underground music scene transforms chaos into rhythm, Kwetu
Kwanza’s designers, artists, and filmmakers reimagine collapse as a site of creation. The
breakdown of fast-fashion systems mirrors wider environmental and social crises — yet within this disintegration lies an opening. Forgotten fabrics, discarded materials, and neglected traditions become the seeds of renewal.
What to Expect This Year
- A fashion exhibition featuring more than 30 designers from across the continent and
beyond. - Live performances blending music, fashion, and dance.
- Daily workshops exploring screen-printing, tailoring, indigenous materials, and
experimental audio-textile collaborations.
Film screenings, including the Ugandan premiere of Resurgence of Lubugo by Hannah
Allchurch and IGC Fashion. - A vibrant marketplace with over 20 independent vendors.
- Daily talks and conversations on regenerative futures — and much more.
Kwetu Kwanza 2025 will be located next to the Hakuna Kulala Stage at Adrift Overland,
Kayunga, within the Nyege Nyege Festival grounds. Tickets are available via the Nyege Nyege website.
