Kericho TTC strikes right chord at national music festival

Kericho Teachers Training College team celebrates after their Swahili verse won in the self-reliance category during the Kenya National Music Festival at Kabarak University in Nakuru on August 3, 2019. It was the first day of the competitions. PHOTO | ANTHONY NJAGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Kabarak University has a great ambience and is highly relevant for this year’s festival.
  • The numerous halls and other recreational facilities offer a good entertainment aspect to the audience.
  • The music festival took off in style when nursery schools and colleges presented very creative items.

Kericho Teachers Training College started on the right chord Saturday on day one as the Kenya National Music Festival got underway at Kabarak University by winning in a competitive category that encourages the youth to be self-reliant.

They won in the Swahili verse category sponsored by the KCB Group.

Kabarak University has a great ambience and is highly relevant for this year’s festival.

HALLS

The numerous halls and other recreational facilities offer a good entertainment aspect to the audience.

“I must admit that this class was quite competitive but my students worked very hard to emerge tops. We addressed matters kujiajiri, which means self-employment and the loans the bank gives to those who are struggling in small businesses,” trainer Ng’eno Geoffrey told the Nation.

The Kericho college’s Principal Eida Achungo said the win was due to thorough training and discipline.

The music festival took off in style when nursery schools and colleges presented very creative items.

CURTAIN RAISERS

They were the curtain raisers at the annual festival, which has been dubbed the largest arts festival of its kind in East and Central Africa.

Teachers training colleges (TTCs), national and village polytechnics, technical training institutes as well as universities treated the audience to highly entertaining choir music in a category named ‘2jiajiri’. The category features own composition music and is sponsored by KCB Group.

In the category, institutions presented songs and dances on the importance of young people creating self-employment instead of seeking white-collar jobs.

CREATE JOBS

Participants tackled the theme from various angles, urging the youth to create employment for themselves through micro-enterprises such as one starting a small business while in college and urging them not to look down on courses such as plumbing, masonry and mechanics among others.

The category featured 51 items and the variety of dances was staggering.

Perhaps this was because of the intense competition in terms of composition and presentation or probably because the theme resonated well with the performers who were young people just about to finish their schooling and enter the job market.

It must have been difficult for the adjudicators to judge who was best, as all the items were worth watching.

Others who performed on the first day of the festival were Shanzu TTC, Kamwenja TTC and Eregi TTC among others.

Those who shone in own choice singing games category included Sally Ann School from the Rift Valley, St Peters Mumias (western), Kisumu Kings (Nyanza) and Angel Junior from the Coast

In this category, children were expected to re-enact singing games while displaying as much imagination as possible in terms of play, movement and costumes.