Today opens the sixteenth edition of the Lamu Cultural and Traditional Festival.
A historical event that recalls the ancient Swahili customs of the island, which have become one of the artistic and cultural trademarks of the "Arab Venice" of Kenya.
Three days of fun, culture and tradition. 
As every year, games and competitions will be held at the counter, but there will be moments linked to the Swahili language (the poets' contest that honor the idiom of the coast that was then chosen as the official language of Kenya) and to the ancient customs of the archipelago-city (dances and rituals that are handed down from father to son). 
This year the historic goal of 100,000 presences in the golden years of tourism in Kenya will not be matched this year, but the international economic crisis has made its mark. However, the bookings of hundreds of visitors show that the taboos on the islands a few tens of kilometres from Somalia have been overcome. Today Lamu is a safe town and the political and ecological diatribes do not affect its nomination, which is that of one of the safest place in Africa. Minister of Tourism Najib Balala will inaugurate this morning the Festival with the Dhow competition, which will see boats divided between the ancient and the faster ones, dances in the Town Hall square and in the courtyard of the Museum, the gastronomic products fair with not only fryers and shops, but also private houses engaged in the production of traditional Arab-African products such as samosa, chapati, mahamri, mahamri. Great conclusion of the festival, after the poetry races on Saturday, Sunday with the traditional donkey race, on the long airport. 
A show that involves every year in the same way, a triumph of smiles, colours and emotions that rightly highlights a corner among the most characteristic and particular of the Kenyan coast.