In many African communities, food is always celebrated and the planting season comes with much fanfare. Between March 24–26, the Red Rocks Intercultural Exchange Centre, which is located in Nyakimana, about seven kilometres west of Musanze town, hosted the Seed of Hope Festival as part of its monthly cultural tourism events dedicated to preserving Rwanda’s rich cultural heritage.

From the first day, the well-attended event drew several locals and tourists alike who had the chance to share in Rwanda’s traditional culture.

Greg Bakunzi, the founder of Red Rocks Rwanda, said that apart from the high turnout that the event registered, the centre also had the chance to partner with Kigali Farms, which came to give a presentation on mushroom farming to the community around Nyakinama.

“Kigali Farms, based on our agreement, is going to deliver mushroom seeds to Red Rocks and the community at large will be collecting the seeds from the centre. Half of the produce is going to be purchased by Kigali Farms, while Red Rocks is going to purchase the rest and sell it to visitors who come to the centre,” says Bakunzi.

There was a lot of thrilling activities during the festival, more so on the final day which featured cocktails and enthralling traditional dance performances by locals from Nyakinama.

Red Rocks’ monthly cultural events continue next month with the Cultural Tourism Week and the Summer Camp Festival coming up next. These monthly festivities are partly geared towards promoting Rwanda’s cultural tourism.