Marsabit Lake Turkana Cultural Festival
Lake Turkana crops · Loyangalani, Kenya
The festival
In Loiyangalani, an oasis on Lake Turkana — the "Jade Sea", with emerald green waters, a UNESCO World Heritage site — the Marsabit Lake Turkana Cultural Festival has been gathering since 2008 the fourteen communities of Marsabit County: Rendille, Gabra, Borana, Samburu, Turkana, El Molo, Burji, Sakuye, Garri, Somali, Dassanech, Konso, Waata and Arab. Dances, songs, costumes, pearling, cooking and cultural villages tell a rare diversity of northern Kenya, between desert and lake.
Born in a county marked by tensions between communities, the festival was established as an instrument of peace and unity: its 2025 edition, the 14th, from December 3 to 7, culminated on December 6, and the theme was the celebration of cultural heritage and unity. Just a stone's throw from the village, the Desert Museum, opened in 2008, keeps the memory of the peoples of the lake and the desert.
Good to know
Loyangalani is joined by charter from Nairobi (about 2 hours) or by road via Isiolo and Marsabit (10-12 hours).Isolated area of northern Kenya: check the advice to your country's travellers before booking.