The late great chef, Anthony Bourdain, once said, “Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.”
This seems to be the prevailing sentiment as food festivals are increasingly becoming a mainstay of Uganda’s social calendar, with notable examples including the Rolex Festival, Tokosa Food Festival, Bakiga Nation, the Utafiti Food Festival, Kampala Restaurant Week and many more.
They are an avenue through which Ugandans and non-Ugandans alike show their appreciation for culture and tradition through food as a unifying factor, borrowing a leaf from international festivals like Pizzafest – held in Naples Italy, the Dumpling Festival – held in Hong Kong and others.
This weekend, for example, saw the Kabagarame Kampala Festival hold its first post-lockdown edition at the Uganda Museum.
The Bell Lager festival essentially brought the weekly Kabagarame food market from its home in Bushenyi District in Western Uganda to Kampala for one day where people from all walks of life enjoyed traditionally prepared pork served alongside blended millet (kalo) or mashed plantain (matooke) and washed down with cold beer.
According to the organisers, the latest edition saw thousands of guests consume 2,623 kilograms of pork throughout the event.
As a testament to the socio-economic benefits of food tourism, John Barugahare, the Chairperson of the Kabagarame weekly market, said he travelled to Kampala with a total of 62 cooks and all the ingredients that were used to prepare the delicious pork delicacies that Kabagarame is famous for – earning income for hundreds of farmers, suppliers and cooks in addition to shining a light on Kabagarame as a reputable food destination.
The festivals also feed into a growing trend that has seen more Ugandans appreciate having a good time in calmer environments, as opposed to being in bars and nightclubs.
This has birthed campaigns like Bell Lager’s Mpola Enjoyments, which creates opportunities for and encourages consumers to have a good time in relaxed environments with friends and loved ones as they enjoy wide-ranging meat recipes alongside some chilled Bell Lager.
