The KPF 2012

Click here for the full Concept Paper including budget in pdf format: Concept Paper 2012

Background

In August 2011 the first Kisumu Peace Festival, with an audience of more than 20’000 people, took place.

As Kisumu is often at the centre of regional conflicts, either in reality or as portrayed in the media, the City is an excellent location for a peace festival, as the Prime Minister the Rt Hon. Raila Odinga pointed out in his opening speech during the festival 2011. The festival brings all communities together, including those outside the region, and marks a point of change in the thinking of both the Kisumu citizens and Kenyans.

Through a network of peace-orientated organisations working in the Kisumu region, we bring the individual actors together to organise this joint-venture activity.

The ‘Community Peace Project’ (CPP) of the Kisumu based NGO ‘Support for Tropical Initiatives in Poverty Alleviation’ (STIPA) together with the Association for Development Cooperation (AGEH), Civil Peace Service (zfd/CPS), the Department of Culture, the Kisumu Youth Football Association (KYFA), the Youth Reconciliation Forum (YOREf-K), the District Peace Committee (DPC) and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) were the organisers of the festival 2012.

The Kisumu Peace Festival 2012 was an event, which was meant to first and foremost help paving the way for a peaceful election in March 2013 and an event, which the citizens in and around Kisumu look forward to attending in 2013 and the years to come.

Logo

The logo for Kisumu Peace Festival was designed to represent unity through the use of two faces; Kisumu through use of a boat and the blue and white colours. We also wanted to demonstrate that the Festival is for the whole of Kenya, represented in the Kenyan flag colours in the middle of the logo.

Impressions

The KPF 2012 attracted an estimated audience of over 30,000 people from all walks of life!

The programme of the KPF 2012 included pre-festival activities such as an inter-religious workshop…

… and a competition for youth football teams where the winners were invited to compete during the Kisumu Peace Festival.

Dola Kabarry performed during the Opening Ceremony.

The festival was officially opened by Hon. Peter Kenneth. We were delighted to also see Her Excellency the German Ambassador Margit Hellwig-Boette and Hon James Orengo amongst the dignitaries.

Among the many attractions of the Kisumu Peace Festival 2012 were: the Rowing for Peace competition which saw two teams from Migingo Island competing with the local fishermen. The children of Kisumu marched through the city and called for peace as did the religious leaders of all faiths.

The KPF is for the citizens of Kisumu and it offers not only attractions but also information for free. The tents during the 3 days were occupied by Britsh Council, the Kenya Land Alliance, Peacenet, Kituo Cha Sheria to name but a few.