Celebrating our heritage, sharing our knowledge, and connecting generations.
The proposed Kakuwa Cultural Festival (KCF-2027) will bring together community members, elders, cultural practitioners, artists, and young people to celebrate the heritage of the Kakuwa people. It will provide a platform to showcase our traditions, explain their meanings, and strengthen cultural connections across South Sudan and the diaspora.
The festival aims to make our heritage a shared learning experience, where younger generations can engage directly with the people, objects, songs, and practices that tell our story.
Showcasing Our Culture and Identity
The festival will feature cultural exhibitions, demonstrations, performances, and storytelling, with participation encouraged from Lainya, Yei, and Morobo counties, other Kakuwa sub-communities, and diaspora associations.
Proposed activities include:
- Cultural artefacts and tools: Displays of traditional household utensils, farming implements, musical instruments, clothing, ornaments, and craftwork, accompanied by explanations of their uses and significance.
- Life-cycle traditions: Community-approved demonstrations and discussions of customs associated with marriage, childbirth, naming, death, and mourning, recognising differences across families and sub-communities.
- Traditional knowledge and medicine: Educational discussions led by knowledgeable custodians on healing traditions, medicinal plants, and their cultural significance, with attention to responsible knowledge sharing and plant conservation.
- Traditional dances and songs: Performances celebrating weddings, harvests, unity, peace-making, and other important occasions, with explanations of the messages they carry.
- Food and craftsmanship: Demonstrations of traditional food preparation, weaving, carving, and other skills, creating opportunities for artisans to share their work.
Sacred or private practices will only be included where custodians consider public presentation appropriate. Traditional medicine sessions will focus on cultural education, without presenting demonstrations as treatment services.
Learning from Our Elders
Storytelling sessions will bring knowledgeable Kakuwa women and men together with young people to explore community history, values, and changes in everyday life. Local historians and invited researchers will contribute to discussions, with community voices guiding how our heritage is represented.
Young participants will be encouraged to learn interviewing, recording, and documentation skills. With contributors’ permission, selected stories and performances will be preserved as educational materials for future generations.
Strengthening Unity and Cultural Enterprise
The festival will create opportunities for performers, craftspeople, food vendors, and young creatives to reach new audiences. It will also encourage exchanges between generations and sub-communities, strengthening belonging and appreciation of our shared heritage.
Funding and Preparation
A proposed budget of USD 28,000 will support festival delivery. Detailed costing will guide allocations for venue arrangements, participant transport, exhibitions, performances, documentation, publicity, and essential event services.
The festival’s dates, venue, and programme will be announced following consultations and confirmation of resources. Preparations will include clear arrangements for the care, display, and return of borrowed cultural objects.
Be Part of KCF-2027
We invite community members, partners, and well-wishers to contribute funding, cultural exhibits, equipment, expertise, and sponsorship. Elders, performers, artisans, and families are encouraged to help shape a festival that represents our community with pride and care.
Together, let us make KCF-2027 a celebration of Kakuwa identity and a living classroom for generations to come.