Wimbi
La Sanaa
Festival
Wimbi La Sanaa
Festival 2025
The Wimbi La Sanaa Festival 2025 successfully established a vibrant platform for artistic growth and exchange, enabling artists to network, learn, and showcase their work to entirely new audiences. Held from 28th October to 1st November 2025 across four venues in Mombasa, the festival brought together a diverse and engaging programme spanning performance, film, and visual arts — fostering discovery, dialogue, and cultural connection across seven countries.
The festival reinforced its value to both the creative community and the broader public, with audiences and artists alike experiencing art in settings that fully embraced the cultural richness and diversity of Mombasa City.
28th Oct — 1st Nov
2025
Mombasa, Kenya · Five Days of Art & Culture
Wimbi La Sanaa
Festival 2026
The next edition of Wimbi La Sanaa Festival is on its way. Be among the first to secure your place and join us as we celebrate another extraordinary season of African arts, culture, and community in Mombasa.
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Five Days of Art & Culture
Day 1
Festival Bonanza
Day One opened on a high note with a vibrant street performance walk that attracted more than 150 art enthusiasts through the streets of Mombasa, generating strong momentum for the festival. The day featured a theatre performance by Zillas Arts (Nairobi), a film screening, and a panel discussion on the State of Film in Kenya, complemented by engaging visual exhibitions that set the artistic tone for the days ahead.
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Gala Night
Opening Gala Night
The festival was officially launched by Hon. Mohammed Osman, CECM for Tourism, Trade and Culture at the County Government of Mombasa, reaffirming the county's commitment to supporting the creative economy. The evening concluded in an African fashion-themed gala featuring electrifying performances from artists representing Bungoma, Kisumu, and Kilifi (Kenya), as well as Uganda — a lively, celebratory close to an impactful opening day.
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Day 2
Bahari Huru
Building on four successful years of the Bahari Huru Festival, Day Two reaffirmed the festival's mandate of ocean conservation advocacy. Artists and community members gathered for a beach clean-up alongside the presentation of artworks on marine conservation at Jomo Kenyatta Public Beach in Mombasa. The day drew powerful voices on the intersection of creativity and conservation, reinforcing the ocean as a shared cultural and ecological heritage.
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Day 3
Fem Fusion
A full day dedicated to honouring women of all ages thriving across diverse art sectors. Day Three presented a unique fusion of contemporary and traditional arts, including a panel discussion on leadership in the arts with voices from Mombasa, Kwale, Belgium, Uganda, and South Africa. The day spotlighted endangered women-led cultures: the Swahili tradition of kuna nazi and the Kishuri dance — a nearly forgotten women-only Swahili dance — were presented to contemporary audiences as acts of living cultural preservation.
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Day 4
Art Cocktail
Day Four brought together a remarkable gathering of intergenerational artists from Mombasa, Kilifi, South Africa, Uganda, Bungoma, and Nairobi onto a single stage. The event featured a vibrant showcase of visual arts displayed alongside live performances, creating a rich, dynamic atmosphere of creative exchange and cultural celebration that bridged generations and borders in equal measure.
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Day 5
Music Concert
The festival closed on a resounding high note with an intergenerational music concert spanning traditional compositions steeped in history through to contemporary sounds by emerging artists. Artists, art lovers, and community members gathered to celebrate the culmination of five extraordinary days. The closing night was a fitting tribute to the power of music as a universal language — and a joyful promise of what future editions of Wimbi La Sanaa would hold.
View Highlights"Creativity becomes a bridge between culture and conservation, helping the community see the ocean not just as a resource but as part of who we are. When youth create, their vision sets the tone for how communities can reimagine conservation together."
Ledama Masidza, Ocean Culture Life — Wimbi La Sanaa 2025Capacity Building
of Artists
Participants across the festival benefited from professional showcase spaces, artist talks, networking sessions, and workshops specifically designed for capacity building, as well as direct engagement with curators and cultural organisations.
Six workshops were conducted within the festival programme, giving emerging artists the opportunity to develop their craft and expand their professional networks. A total of 166 participants attended workshops facilitated by international experts from Germany, Poland, Tanzania, and Czech Republic — exposing them to global standards of artistic practice and opening meaningful pathways for cross-cultural collaboration.
Wimbi La Sanaa
In Pictures
What People Said
Our Partners
& Sponsors
Wimbi La Sanaa Festival 2025 was made possible through the generous support of our partners and sponsors. We extend our sincere gratitude to every organisation and institution whose commitment and belief in the arts helped bring this extraordinary festival to life.