One of the most memorable moments for many school going children in Kenya has been attending the annual Music Festival. Days filled with music, choral verses and fun interaction and completion with neighboring schools have been etched on many a student’s mind for a long time.

The Ministry of Education together with the Kenya Music Festival has continuously aimed at giving students a rounded learning experience in and out of the classrooms. The festival’s themes range from historical learnings to socio-economic while being perfect grounds to foster cultural and social interactions in the young Kenyans. This year’s theme is “Nurturing Talent for Innovation and Development”.

Talented and artistic students and teachers are not the only beneficiaries of these festivals. Local vendors are the next biggest winners of the festivals. Small scale vendors whom the hosting schools allow in to the space report significant sales from visiting schools. With more than 130,000 high school and primary schools expected to attend and perform at the week-long festival in Nyeri, this is a significant boosts to many small scale local vendors in the town. From sellers of customs accessories to food and snacks vendors, many traders are looking forward to making impactful sales over the week.

 Many students and teachers will be boarding in at the Dedan Kimathi University which will be economically beneficial to suppliers of food stuff from the area. This will also be a perfect opportunity for the institution to showcase their facilities and programs, opening the possibilities of increased enrollments in the near future. Students who may not have considered the school for their higher education will have their minds changed. This encourages diversity and helps develop the facilities in the school as well as create employment opportunities for support staff and teachers to cater for the increased enrollment rates. This will help grow the economy of the area and the country at large while helping reduce the rates on unemployment in the country.

The county government of Nyeri’s revenue will also see an increase during the festival. Local business such as hotels, restaurants and supermarkets will see an increase in patronage, increasing their sales and bookings. Local tourist sites such as parks are also a big beneficiary of this festival. The Ministry of Tourism has always encouraged domestic tourism by having lower fees for students and citizens and a festival such as this where numerous students and teachers from all over the country, is a perfect driver of domestic tourism.

Intercountry trade also benefits with the music festival as teachers, education officials and students travel from all over the country during the festival.

The music festivals fully supported by the government and the ministry of education, will foster cultural integration and lifelong relationships between schools and students of all walks of life, from all corners of the country. Music festivals are a perfect ground for discovering and nurturing artistic talent in the children of the country, opening up more career opportunities in the future.