Kenyan Music Wins Big At The IAAF World Under 18

The World Under 18 Village was set up by the Ministry of Sports Culture and the Arts to showcase our Kenyan culture to the world. It was the perfect way to merge Kenya’s sporting clout with its rich culture. “The department of Culture and the Arts was set up 1 year 4 months ago and we made some pronouncements for the creatives in Kenya. We have managed to get this space for the creatives, we have the 50 top artistes who have been working closely with the Ministry.” PS. Okudo, Department of Culture & the Arts.

The Village hosted 66 Maasai Market vendors under the Open spaces initiative. This is an initiative by the Ministry under the Permanent Secretary Culture & the Arts Joe Okudo which creates space for youth entrepreneurs in the arts industry & beneficiaries of the Youth & affirmative funds at Government sponsored events like the Uzalendo Festival held on 12th December and now the World Under 18 Village.

The Open Spaces initiative invites vendors to showcase their works to the public for free and have the opportunity to sell their art works to the crowds in order to make a living and boost the cultural arts industry. In the same spirit of uplifting the youth, the Ministry through its organisers Ngoma Tucheze hired 50 youth influencers to drive traffic both online and on ground to the stadium through #wu18village & #wu18nairobi. This saw an influx of youth streaming in at all hours to the village from 1000 people on Wednesday to 4000 & 6000 on Saturday & Sunday respectively. 

Some of the Key attractions to the village were the Maasai Market, the food & Beverage vendors and the 50 artistes lined up to perform across the 5 days. 

Some of the artistes included:

Redsan Nameless Wahu Le Band

Size 8 DJ Mo FBI Dancers Villagers Band

Timmy T Dat Naiboy MOG CBK Band

Mercy Masika DJ Sadic Kriss Darling Gravity Band

Kaligraph DJ Crème Kristoff Sanaipei Tande

Vivian Avril Amos & Josh DJ Wijjie

Mc. Bram Mc. Dwayne Mc. Alemba Paul WaKimani Ogutu

Mc. Ballow Sleepy David Solomon Mkubwa Eunice Njeri

Bahati Roughtone Frasha Gabu 

Alongside these performances was a DJ competition and a Dance Off. According to PS Okudo, the youth needed a platform to show that they are creative beyond our expectations and the Village delivered by giving cash rewards to the winners on the second last day of the event.

The DJ competition saw 70 Dj’s take part for a cash prize of Ksh. 50,000. The winner Dj Velcro suffered from Cerebral Palsy that left him disabled in one hand. He spins using a special deck that allows him to schedule music and mix using only one hand. The crowds identified him as the one hand Dj who beat his competition hands down!

The Bazokizo dancers who hail from Dandora, wowed the crowd through the different stages of the competition to emerge at the top. The second and third places were also taken by dance groups from Mjengo & Korogocho respectively.

The Colour Festival team was on ground on Saturday to spread cheer and further engage the younger crowd in lots of fun & entertainment at the Village. This festival is one of the first to accommodate the Open Spaces initiative at all its events across the country.

The Ministry went further to host a Media Wrap up party on Saturday evening for the Media fraternity who have worked tirelessly to ensure maximum coverage during the 5 daylong event. The cocktail was graced by Sports, Culture and the Arts Cabinet Secretary Dr. Hassan Wario, PS Culture and the Arts Joe Okudo and PS sports Amb. Peter Kaberia.

The event attracted local and international visitors who enjoyed the music, the acrobatic shows and the cultural village as a whole.