I recently happened across a KBC programme on past Kenya National Music Festival Competitions. Suddenly, it dawned on me that little had been done to market and showcase the diverse richness of Kenyan culture.

While attending the Nairobi National School, I frequently participated in the festivals by virtue of my membership of the Nairobi School Band and also due to the fact that the festival would bring together a host of girl schools such as Kenya High(our Sister school), Precious Blood School Riruta, Moi Nairobi Girls School,Pangani Girls,State house Girls, Loretto Msongari Girls School and bevies more.

The Music festivals were auspicious occasions of great entertainment. A lot of talent was normally displayed, nurtured and brought to fruition in the build up to the music festivals. It was on stage at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre that many a prodigious talent was discovered.

It is sad and unfortunate then, that the majority of the audience present for this revelations of talent are a motley of primary, secondary, university and college students, their teachers and the competitions adjudicators. The majority of the Kenya's citizenry have abandoned the annual festival, thinking it merely an educational discourse.

While the events to an ordinary Kenyan may seem mundane and unoriginal, they will on the other hand provide a fascinating, intriguing and even attractive insight into a side of Kenya not often seen by visitors and tourists. It would be useful then, that even as we embrace modernity and accept that the world has become a global village; we harness such events and by identifying their potential, that we enhance and explore these for the national interest.

It would be a good thing if the Kenyan Tourism Board, the Ministry of Education, various stakeholders in the tourism industry and the Ministry of Culture, would take advantage of the music festivals and market them as a tourism event. The money generated could also be used to enhance the appeal, management and conduct of the Kenya Music Festivals so as to even attract and appeal to the great internal market. Cuultural events such as this, would serve to create an indelible, differentiable mark of Kenya and its heritage on the tourists attending this annual event.

The money generated from such pursuits may be used to award scholarships to the winners; thus enabling them to pursue their talents and interests, creating a future and a source of income that can be marketed both locally and abroad. We need to see more upcoming groups and talents reminiscent of Muungano Choir, Jabali Africa and Kayamba Africa which in their own way served to market Kenya internationally. The festivals would then be transformed and as a result would not only entertain but also empower the general population.

Swazi reed dancers

The spill over effects of such aggressive marketing to the locals, taxi drivers, hotels and tourism resorts, craft sellers, foreign exchange earnings would definitely be immense. It is increasingly evident that promotion of cultural tourism in Africa has taken a dynamic angle with more and more input being directed into this specific aspect of tourism. Some of the events and festivals being specially promoted around the world include the Reed dance in Swaziland (raking in massive foreign exchange), the Kente Festival of the Ashanti in Ghana, the Festival in the Desert in Timbuktu, Mali and the Sauti Ya Busara festival in stonetown Zanzibar. There is little reason why a tourist destination of such importance as Kenya should not create a similar spectacle.

It would also be beneficial that the management of this event focus on embracing the benefits of the internet for advertising andtransmitting the event globally, with live internet feeds for the consumption of the international market. Kenyans living abroad can help in the efforts to popularise the event, particularly those who take pride in their cultural heritage. To further promote the event and supplement the revenue streams, the winner's gala can be nicely packaged and sold on as a DVD pack to this already willing and eager market.

We are sitting atop a mound of cultural capital that is under-utilized and unexploited. The Government and Kenya Tourism Board should take a cue from the small nation of Swaziland who have capitalized on their Reed Dance, transformed a quaint provincial spectacle into a global event that attracts much in the way of foreign currency and income from tourism for their country.

The Music festivals are not just a school event; they are a highly precious natural heritage.