Beneath the Baobabs
BY Elisha Tawe
Hosted in a one-of-a-kind space surrounded by secret orange and lemon groves, Beneath the Baobabs, formerly known as Kilifi New Year, is an exhilarating event with an environmentally conscious twist.
Chosen for: Preserving Culture and Driving Diversity.
Beneath the Baobabs brings in around 10,000 attendees to the cosmopolitan town of Kilifi each new year. Founded by Distant Relative's Ecolodge and Backpackers as a small electronic music party on a beach volleyball court in Kenya, the near decade-old festival now stands as one of the premier party destinations in East Africa. This magical three-day event operates with a strict plastic ban and Leave No Trace approach, causing it to be heralded as the first carbon neutral festival of its kind on the African continent. The festival also offers discounted tickets for locals, a strategy that's designed to nourish its surrounding creative community.
Wellness, freedom of expression and the showcasing of burgeoning East African artists and musicians are the central pillars of this affair. Its main stage of vast overhanging decks rests under the shade of a 2,000-year-old Baobab tree, floating over Kilifi and providing festival-goers with a birds-eye view of its sprawling coastline. Through this proudly Kenyan event's unmissable programming, Beneath the Baobabs is quickly growing into an internationally renowned event, and is our top pick for ringing in the new year.
