A gorilla-sized opportunity to join Rwanda’s Red Rocks Cultural Festival

Cul­min­at­ing in Kwita Izina — the Gor­illa Nam­ing Cere­mony — and a night of music and dan­cing, the Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Fest­iv­al is an annu­al event in Rwanda. 

In 2022 the 10th instal­ment of the vibrant Fest­iv­al will take place August 26 to Septem­ber 2 at Nyak­i­n­ama vil­lage in Rwanda’s Musan­ze district.

I invite you to join and/or spon­sor the events of the Fest­iv­al, which aims to engage com­munity mem­bers and vis­it­ors in recre­ation­al, cul­tur­al, and con­ser­va­tion­al activities. 

With this year’s theme “Con­ser­va­tion and Cul­tur­al Sus­tain­ab­il­ity”, our Red Rock Cul­tur­al Fest­iv­al sup­ports a sense of com­munity pride and unity in the causes of envir­on­ment­al and cul­tur­al conservation.

Join us to par­ti­cip­ate in Nation­al Park Ser­vice stew­ard­ship activ­it­ies that bene­fit loc­al com­munit­ies and pro­tect the Vol­ca­noes Nation­al Park, which is home to the last sur­viv­ing moun­tain gorillas.

Our Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Fest­iv­al emphas­ises the community’s role in con­ser­va­tion, and how tour­ism can sup­port and strengthen that role. 

Fest­iv­al activ­it­ies bol­ster oppor­tun­it­ies for com­munity mem­bers to com­mit to per­man­ently pro­tect­ing Rwanda’s nat­ur­al, cul­tur­al, and recre­ation­al resources. 

And they inspire the next gen­er­a­tion of stewards. 

As a tour­ism hub, the Red Rocks Rwanda Inter­cul­tur­al Cen­ter uses the Fest­iv­al to increase loc­al par­ti­cip­a­tion in advan­cing the broad­er agen­das of our com­munity like health, edu­ca­tion, envir­on­ment­al pro­tec­tion, and cul­tur­al her­it­age preservation.

For the vis­it­or, what dif­fer­en­ti­ates this Fest­iv­al peri­od from any oth­er time of year is that the Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Fest­iv­al offers a highly intens­ive oppor­tun­ity to under­stand Rwandan cul­ture, our long rela­tion­ship with nature, and the con­cer­ted efforts of loc­als to pro­tect endangered moun­tain gorillas.

Bey­ond its eco- and cul­ture-friendly activ­it­ies, the Fest­ival’s aims are tied to Red Rocks Rwanda’s ongo­ing mis­sion to lever­age tour­ism for socio-eco­nom­ic, edu­ca­tion­al, and cul­tur­al uplift in our society. 

To this end, the Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Fest­iv­al is also an oppor­tun­ity to bring us all togeth­er to dis­cuss issues and share know­ledge and good practices.

Join us August 26, 2022 to Septem­ber 2, 2022 to exper­i­ence a vibrant cel­eb­ra­tion of Rwanda’s nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al her­it­age and tour­ism industry. 

If you are inter­ested in spon­sor­ship, part­ner­ship, par­ti­cip­a­tion, or attend­ance at the Fest­iv­al, or you simply wish to find out more about tour­ism in Rwanda, please feel free to email us at info@redrocksinitiative.org.

Warm regards from Rwanda,
Greg Bak­un­zi

Red Rocks Cultural Festival experiences

Through­out the eight days of the Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Fest­iv­al, experience:

Storytelling, listening, and participating

Listen to and engage in storytelling about endangered spe­cies; how far we have gone in con­ser­va­tion efforts; how biod­iversity has been retained and eco­sys­tem health restored; how cul­ture and the envir­on­ment are linked; how cul­ture has evolved; and how the qual­ity of life for loc­als has improved.

Engage your senses in the appre­ci­ation of cul­tur­al products. And try your hand.

The links between culture and environmental conservation

Per­cep­tions of humans on their envir­on­ment is largely driv­en by cul­ture and cul­tur­al prac­tices. Dur­ing the Fest­iv­al learn how envir­on­ment­al con­ser­va­tion and the pre­ser­va­tion of cul­tur­al her­it­age for tour­ism devel­op­ment have been linked in Rwanda. 

An exhib­i­tion will shed light on the plight of moun­tain gor­il­las and the his­tory of gor­illa con­ser­va­tion, fea­tur­ing loc­al artists and craftspeople who sell their work to tourists.

Oth­er events will recog­nise the con­nec­tion between the phys­ic­al health of people with that of the envir­on­ment, and will offer space for art to “talk” on behalf of animals. 

If you are inter­ested in spon­sor­ship, part­ner­ship, par­ti­cip­a­tion, or attend­ance at the Fest­iv­al, you are wel­come to email the organ­isers at info@redrocksinitiative.org.

Red Rocks Cultural Festival dates and events

August 26 to September 2, 2022

Red Rocks Ini­ti­at­ives exhib­i­tion: Join our exhib­i­tion in your real or vir­tu­al space and have an exper­i­ence tailored for you on how we keep our cul­tur­al her­it­age alive. 

Exhib­it­ors from the com­munity will be happy to share with you their suc­cess stor­ies in har­ness­ing tour­ism as a means of sus­tain­able socio-eco­nom­ic development.

The exhib­i­tion will be packed with tra­di­tion­al music, drum­ming, dan­cing, and food. 

August 29, 2022

Con­ser­va­tion and com­munity work­shop: As we nav­ig­ate path­ways for sus­tain­ab­il­ity post the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic, we wel­come poli­cy­makers, con­ser­va­tion­ists, phil­an­throp­ists, mem­bers of civil soci­ety, volun­teers, and loc­al com­munit­ies to join us in brain­storm­ing ideas and dis­cuss­ing the future of Vol­ca­noes Nation­al Park tour­ism, con­ser­va­tion, and sus­tain­able development. 

The launch of an art gal­lery: A new gal­lery will open at Kinigi, a tour­ism hub in the Musan­ze dis­trict. Our mis­sion is to pro­mote art for con­ser­va­tion. Con­sequently, we have sched­uled an event on August 29 dur­ing which you will be intro­duced to con­ser­va­tion-themed art exhib­its, live paint­ing demos, and hands-on paint­ing activ­it­ies. Take home your own great work of art.

Foot­ball tour­na­ment: Not to be missed, this foot­ball tour­na­ment is organ­ised with con­ser­va­tion edu­ca­tion in mind. Foot­ball enthu­si­asts may appre­ci­ate young­sters as they show­case their foot­balling tal­ents at the foot of the Virungas. 

On the side­lines, vis­it­ors can par­ti­cip­ate in dif­fer­ent cul­tur­al expres­sions like Agaseke bas­ket weav­ing, pot­tery, and Urwag­wa banana beer brew­ing; learn how to play tra­di­tion­al games like igisoro and ikibuguzo; and there will be face paint­ing for the kids.

August 30, 2022

Today our cel­eb­ra­tions will emphas­ise cul­tur­al norms and tra­di­tions in Rwanda; from cook­ing to agri­cul­tur­al prac­tices. And we will enjoy dance per­form­ances by a tra­di­tion­al dance troupe. Oth­er high­lights will include a kids art activ­ity; exhib­its by loc­al artists; and a loc­al food fest­iv­al. Out­door activ­it­ies include cyc­ling, tra­di­tion­al games for kids, walk­ing adven­tures in the loc­al vil­lages, and many more. 

August 31, 2022

Pub­lic Health & Post Cov­id 19 Exhib­i­tion with Rwandan Artis­ans: Red Rocks Ini­ti­at­ives is embark­ing on cre­at­ing “sens­it­isa­tion on san­it­isa­tion” by doc­u­ment­ing the change in Rwandan people’s life­styles, lan­guage, and vocab­u­lary brought about by the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic. We hope this will make it easy to edu­cate future gen­er­a­tions on the chal­lenges the glob­al pan­dem­ic has brought. 

September 1, 2022

Sports for con­ser­va­tion: Today we will link youth sports with gor­illa con­ser­va­tion. Dif­fer­ent teams will com­pete in vari­ous sports like bas­ket­ball and foot­ball. This will be fol­lowed by river and lake cleanups, and oth­er con­ser­va­tion activ­it­ies. Bring­ing these young ath­letes with us will expose them to an up-close exper­i­ence of the envir­on­ment that sur­rounds them. A true win-win: Help young people pur­sue their pas­sion for sport, while emphas­ising the import­ance of our vul­ner­able ecosystems.

September 2, 2022

Kwita Izina, the Gor­illa Nam­ing Cere­mony: Enjoy a full day at the edge of the Vol­ca­noes Nation­al Park and join con­ser­va­tion­ists in the “nam­ing” of new­born gor­il­las. In the even­ing, at the Red Rocks Camp­site, join us for the crazy NIGHT OF THE GORILLAS, fea­tur­ing live music, dan­cing, and refreshments.

If you are inter­ested in spon­sor­ship, part­ner­ship, par­ti­cip­a­tion, or attend­ance at the Fest­iv­al, you are wel­come to email the organ­isers at info@redrocksinitiative.org.