The 4th quarter of the year is usually the busiest time for the entertainment industry in Kenya. Events are lined up for every weekend from October to the end of December. Corporate sponsors who were reluctant about your idea, are now willing and even under pressure to clear that marketing budget that they fought so hard to have apportioned at the beginning of the year. Artists are looking to capitalize on the many events that are springing up trying to stay relevant for a first quarter release in the next year. And consumers, they are looking to wind down what has been a long fruitful or not so fruitful year. This last part, is the heartbeat of the entertainment industry, the consumer. If consumers do not buy into your idea, you are doomed as ticket sales will be low leading to sunk costs. But are they all that matter? With all these moving parts, and the consumer being the bottom line, who bears the brunt of an unsuccessful event? In Kenya, it always seems to be the event organizer who many times, take on the negative reviews, the consequences of service provider failures and any legal repercussions that may occur as a result of the event.

Last year, EABL through its brand Johnnie Walker sponsored Walker Town. The event was billed as one of the top concerts of the year. American Grammy Award winner Ms. Lauryn Hill along with UK artist Arrdee, and Nigerian superstar Rema, were the international headliners for the event. Rema’s performance was marred with bad sound owing to poor preparation by the event organizer, who was not EABL in this case. This was Saturday. When Sunday rolled around, Kenyan artist Nyashinski declined to perform after rains brought all activity at the Kasarani grounds to a halt. While stating that he had fulfilled his contractual agreement of being at the venue on time, the audience and organizers had to cut their losses and pay him the full fee with him not mounting the stage. With growing frustrations, Ms Lauryn Hill insisted on performing because Nairobi held a special place in her heart as the birthplace of her son. And so at around 3AM to a rather disgruntled crowd, Lauryn Hill performed.

Online reviews did not help the situation as customers raised valid concerns about the shambolic organization of the event. EABL being the name brand sponsor, reimbursed all attendees the full ticket price for the Sunday mishap. As a case study, Walker Town highlighted Murphy’s Law when it comes to events. The weather soured, AV riggers failed to prepare for weather changes, there were security breaches, artists did not perform and ultimately, revellers were left unsatisfied and disgruntled. With the state of the event industry in Kenya, Walker Town was an embarrassment for all those involved. Industry insiders revealed that technical riders were hidden from service providers until two weeks to the event and lack of proper preparation almost led to the destruction of millions worth of equipment by unforeseen rain.

Who’s Responsibility?

So, who is really responsible for the success or failure of an event? Recently, Gondwana X Bakone held their second edition in Nairobi. The organization, splendid. However, many revellers were not impressed by the visiting South African DJs terming their sets as mid. A few weeks before that, Blankets & Wine Nairobi had some of the best musical performances of the year but issues with sound, poor planning and crowd control, left a lot to be desired when it came to overall event satisfaction. For any event, there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to have a successful outcome. Aside from having a good line up, one has to think about venue, ticketing, food and drinks, sanitization, security, sound, lights, screens, and finally, date of the event. All these are moving parts, where a single failure can bring down the whole event.

Venues

When it comes to venues for events in Kenya, there seems to be few prominent venues where one can host an event. Outdoor venues seem to be the biggest attraction for large events. This is owing to space for parking, vendors and revelers all together. Indoor venues often accommodate smaller crowds with varying numbers. With the continued rise of events, not many venues seem to cater to musical performances only. Many venues, even outdoor venues, are always multi-purpose. Granted, property owners go into the industry with an intention to maximize profit. However, this might need to change if music events are to take shape in a way that is beneficial to all those involved. While looking at larger markets like the US, the whole events industry is a well-oiled machine with players across all sectors. Companies like Live Nation are even monopolising the event spaces by being involved in ticketing and owning the majority of the venues available for artists to perform. While this poses a challenge of its own, this integration ensures an easier time for attendees. Should ticketing companies like Mookh and Ticketsasa look at investing in venues? It may not serve their immediate commercial interests but it would open up a whole new avenue for them when it comes to vertical and horizontal business integration.

Sound Engineering

Another main pain point for concert goers is always sound. Although overlooked by many, bad sound is one thing that could ruin an otherwise wonderful event. Too loud, harsh, or constant feedback and reverb leaves the audience disoriented and artists unsatisfied. The sound in any two events is almost never consistent. This is due to many factors some of which includes organizers apportioning lower budgets for audio visual elements. The assumption being, as long as there are speakers and a screen, everything else is fine. There are cases where due to the cost of hiring both equipment and personnel, sound and visuals come in at the last minute as the inescapable reality of how expensive these services are, dawns on organizers. With the lack of serious competition within the entertainment industry, the top players often get complacent many times doing the absolute bare minimum for an event even when it’s in their best interest to do well. New players often come in and upset the status quo and then the cycle continues. Burna Boy, Rema and even Tems opted to bring their own digital mixers and engineers to ensure that they got the best sound. While travelling with engineers is not new, this push to import equipment and talent clearly illustrates the disparity in investment in equipment needs by Kenyan organizers, compared to other markets.

Is Kenya ready to have a fully fledged entertainment calendar with no international artists?

Talent

While there seems to be many issues on the technical side of events, let’s talk about the overall quality of acts being booked in the country. There is a stark shift in Kenyan events where the over reliance on international acts seems to have reduced. Even when events book foreign acts, 3 out of 5 times they are outshined by local acts. This begs the question, is Kenya ready to have a fully fledged entertainment calendar with no international artists?

As a conduit for international performers, Kenya is a step or two behind African giant South Africa who gets all the shine. Since the disruption caused by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the Kenyan music events industry has grown tremendously with many artists planning and organising their own shows without relying on external organizers. This has given artists a great opportunity to craft shows in the best way they deem fit, while also giving fans a well curated experience that fits with their vision and the fans’ expectations. This has definitely pushed organizers to step up their game with bigger budgets that can comfortably cater to the need for full bands, large screens and more tailored venues that cost more. This kind of growth benefits the whole event and entertainment industry. When it comes to international acts, their budgets and overall needs often diminish the overall quality of the event. While having an international act acts as a potent crowd-puller, their perception as superstars leaves organizers at the mercy of their moods and temperaments despite signed contracts and expected levels of professionalism. Furthermore, the coddling way event organizers treat foreign acts in comparison to the dismissive treatment for local acts at the same events, leaves one wondering why we won’t treat our local acts with the same rigour and excellence.

As 2025 comes to a close, every weekend is booked up with an event or two. Many of those events are well organized, have top notch acts and are well thought out. The abundance of events is a good indicator of the growing acceptance for Kenyan music and an even greater appreciation for homegrown talent. As event organizers continue to curate events aligned to different crowds, the lessons to be drawn from all of them is that when the motivation is right, the purity of the experience will always prevail over big budgets, big venues and even the biggest international acts.