Background
The Kenya Music and Cultural Festival (KM&CF) that was held from December 4 – 8, 2005 at the Kenya National Theatre marked the 79th edition since it was started.

The festival attracts community participation from all over Kenya and highlights indigenous forms of music, dance, poetry, theatre, acrobatics and traditional games.

The KM&CF’s mission is to develop and promote Kenya’s intangible cultural heritage of music and other cultural expressions through enhanced dialogue amongst the diverse cultures of Kenya and the international community for sustainable development. Its vision is to be the leading agency in the development and promotion of Kenya’s intangible cultural heritage locally and internationally.

In its organization, KM&CF has a National Executive Committee comprising of; a chairperson, Vice Chairman, Executive Secretary, Assistant Secretary and Treasurer.

The Festival activities starts at District level and progresses to the Provincial level before finalizing at the National level. Both District and Provincial levels are advised to have committees.

Participation
in the Year 2005
All the eight provinces managed to hold their provincial music cultural festival as follows; -

• On 4th & 5th November; Nairobi and Nyanza Provinces.
• On 5th & 6th November; Coast/Rift Valley Provinces.
• On 10th & 11th November, Central Province.
• On 12th & 13th November, Western and Eastern.
• On 13th November, North Eastern.

Except for North Eastern, which had a one-day festival, the rest had two days.

Syllabus
and Entries
The syllabus was structured to give prominence on wider community participation to showcase varied Kenyan Cultural heritage through, music, dance and elocution. This new structuring reduced significantly the number of set pieces leaving the choice of performances to the competitors.

The syllabus had the following categories:
• Vocal, solos, duets, trios, quarters and small choirs.
• Choirs performing Set pieces and own choices, Folksongs, Spiritual original Composition, Adaptation and arrangement of Folksongs.
• Performances by advanced choirs of 45 to 60 singers for mixed voices.
• Church choir performances in; Set pieces, African spirituals and compositin on text of psalm.
• ‘Zilizopendwa ‘Pop’ classics with secular or gospel text.
• Special compositions that touched on particular themes affecting the society, HIV/ Aids, Education, Rights of children, Corruption and Drug and substance Abuse.
• Performances by Pop bands, Taarab and Jazz bands.
• African, Western (European) and Asiatic Instruments.
• African and Western dance performances.
• Specific genres of Elocution in Vernacular, Kiswahili and English languages.
• Non-competitive class involving participation by community groups.

Participating Teams
at the National Festival
Seven provinces participated in the Festival at the national level with exception of North Eastern Province. The teams participated in different categories. The Festival also realized several individual entrants in solo classes. The following teams participated:
• Nyanza Province: Kisumu City Choir, St. Stephens Cathedral, Church of Christ Choir.
• Rift Valley Province: Saosa, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kerenga A, West Valley PAG. Majanis, Nanyuki Municipality, Tears Group and Pyrethrum Board.
• Eastern Province: Sacred Heart of Jesus.
• Nairobi Province: Kenyatta University, St. Stephens Jogoo Road, Our Lady of Visitation, Pambo Africa, St. Paul Kayole, St. Michael and All Angels.
• Central Province: Nyeri Municipality, Muranga Municipality and Gakundu Muungano.
• Coast Province: KPA, Bandari Dancers, St. Lukes Makupa and Makupa Arts Troupe.
• Western Province: Western University, Shabwali Friends, Pan Paper Mills, Kakamega Town Choir, Kakamega Friends, Lugala Friends, Luanda Friends.

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Funding
The Government of Kenya through the Department of Culture financed the Kenya Music and Cultural Festival. In the year 2005, a budget of Kshs.676, 250.00 was approved to cover Printing, Stationery, Hire of Venues, Music Equipments, Personnel Services, Transport, Accommodation, Certificates, Trophies, Publicity, Postage, Telephone, Allowances and Honoraria.

Trophies and Awards
Certificates for winners of 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions were awarded to competitors who scored 80% marks and above. Trophies were awarded to winners of 1st position with a score of 85% marks and above. During the festival, the Department of Culture donated five new trophies to the festival committee. The committee awarded 48 direct trophies to winners and 36 challenge trophies to overall winners in special classes. There is need for more trophies as many deserving groups still go without.

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Plan for Year 2006
• The KM&CF plans to hold workshops for composers and play writers before the end of March 2006 as proposed by the committee during the meeting in mid January.
• To research on the tangible culture by end of March 2006.
• Hold a fundraising dinner for the festival.
• Design Kenya Music and Cultural Festival letterheads, and source for office equipment and stationery.
• Set up a secretariat.

The year 2005 Music and Cultural Festival showcased the rich Kenyan cultural heritage and it is hoped that the festival will be better in the year 2006.

The 2nd Annual Kenya Music was held at Sarit Centre between 8th and 11th December 2005. The Department of Culture as a major coordinator of cultural activities in the country took part to showcase its activities.
The event brought together music producers, promoters, distributors, media, consumers, Government, Donors and Non-global organizations.
The major objective of the Music Week in 2005 was to create network among the music groups with a view to enabling them find solutions to problems that hinder growth and development of the music industry.

The Theme for this year Music Week was “Music Piracy Equals Poverty”.

A forum for music stakeholders had also been organized at the Music week at which views on various concerns were discussed. During the opening of Forum on Friday 9th December 2005 representatives from various music sectors presented their concerns to relevant policy makers that had been invited to the event.

The following papers were presented during the forum:
• An overview of Copyright Laws and loyalties by Jennifer Shamalla – General Manager of the Music Copy-right Society Kenya (MCSK).
• The Government and The Music Industry presented by Mr. Kiratu and the Director of Culture, Mr. Silverse L. Anami.
• Kenya Revenue Authority role in fighting piracy and counterfeits by protecting the borders, which is, checking the borders and stopping illegal imports.

The above speakers in their papers noted that all was not lost and that there had been some gains made tin support of the Music industry i.e.;

Guitar and other musical instruments taxes had been reduced to 10% from 25% and there was also now more than previous years increased knowledge of intellectual property rights and copyrights issues.

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The Director of Culture, Mr. Anami on behalf of the Minister in charge of the ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture & Social Services officiated the event. In his speech the director highlighted measures the government that had put in place to promote the music industry i.e.;
• The government was committed to fighting piracy and had established the Copyright board.
• Copyright bill 2000 had been enacted.
• There was Improved quality of music produced as recently, Kenyan musicians had been awarded KORA Awards in South Africa hence a big achievement for Kenya.
• The director also highlighted activities carried out by the Department of Culture to create an enabling environment for artists to achieve their desired dreams.

The organizers of the event had allocated stands to all exhibitors and the department of culture exhibited the following in its stand;
• An organization structure in regard to the management detailing the functions of the Department.
• Highlighted activities of Performing Arts Division.
• Displayed of musical instruments and other traditional artifacts and paintings.

Apart from its stand the Department of Culture also sponsored; Cheche acappela group, Kupamba dance troupe-traditional dance and Taffi dancers to participate at the event.

Challenges
Challenges facing the Kenya Music Industry were cited as the follows;
• Piracy;
• Lack of knowledge on intellectual property and copyright laws;
• Lack of exposure to international events;
• Music is treated as a hobby other than an economic activity;
• Poor marketing strategies to support the existing structures; and
• Insufficient legislations to fight piracy.

Way forward
Music stakeholders recommended the following be addressed to promote the music industry;
• That the Kenyan Government plays a key role in protecting intellectual property rights with a view to providing the infrastructure for a creative economy.
• That the Government should ensure that Artists are recognized through registration and facilitated through grants.
• Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) was asked to effectively collect royalties and efficiently distribute them to copyright owners.
• That tax breaks be offered for Events Organizers/Artists by KRA.
• Musicians expressed need for their input to be incorporated into the cultural policy.
• That music should be included as a subject in primary and post primary education to enable talented musicians masters their skills.
• It was recommended that Music Week becomes a flagship activity for the Department of Culture. Department should document all the activities of the event for future reference and posterity.
• It was also proposed that a Music School/Performing Arts Academy be established.