Kisima Practitioners

Mugisha Ali Allan

Mugisha is a Pan-African wellness activist, Teaching Artist, and yoga teacher with a foundation in yoga philosophy, breathwork, anatomy, and mindfulness. He has guided individuals and communities through embodied practices rooted in ancestral wisdom and holistic vitality. He is the curator of Liberation Body Work and lead curator of TAI Tours.

Liberation Body Work is an embodied wellness practice integrating Thai Massage, Qi Gong, Nei Gong, Taoist meditation, breathwork, and yogic philosophy.
Rooted in ancestral wisdom and mindful anatomy, it releases tension, restores energetic flow, and awakens inner vitality.
Through conscious touch and breath awareness, participants experience resilience, softness, strength, and embodied freedom.
Aerial Yoga combines traditional yoga with the support of a suspended fabric hammock, allowing you to explore movement, stretching, strengthening, and gentle inversions with greater ease. The hammock supports the body, helping to decompress the spine, improve mobility, build confidence, and bring a playful sense of freedom to your practice.
This is a playful practice that introduces children to yoga through movement , mindfulness and imaginative exploration. Using music and simple postures it also helps develop balance, coordination, focus, emotional regulation and body awareness and confidence.

Walakira Ephraim

Walakira is a professional dance performer, instructor, educator, and choreographer. Over eight years he has developed a focused practice, mastering diverse styles that shaped his technique. A committed team player, he learns from fellow professionals and builds strong social and professional connections locally, across continents, and culturally around the world.

.It is a unique dance fitness/ workout that combines modern dance with traditional cultural dances, aiming to uplift souls, stress relieve, fun, laughter, sweat out, workouts, strength building, connecting, good health and mental well-being.
Live African Drums/Percussion and song bring to life the spirit Ubuntu, togetherness and joy of the African Roots rhythms to help build a health body, environment and energy.
This is a fusion of African dance styles within contemporary dance.

Sister Tibebwa

Sister Tibebwa is a healer, guide, and mother figure based in East Africa for over 25 years. She works with the edges between shadow and light, body and spirit, masculine and feminine, weaving herbs, wise words, detoxing, yoga, Tantric arts, nutrition, pleasure, trauma release, community healing, and regeneration.

Playshop on exploring Consent and Agreement, and learning how to embody a deeper overstanding of the differences between Giving and Receiving and Allowing and Taking.
In this Playshop we will dive deeper into the heart and feel the metamorphosis of pure potential that resides therein.
Masculine and Feminine energies reside within us all. In this Playshop we will learn about, witness and begin the healing of our wounded Masculine energy.

Jazz (YTK)

Explore the journey of returning to love through the world of physical theatre and play. Together, we’ll build a safe, playful container to dive into what "a return to love" means to us—using movement, storytelling, and ensemble creation to bring our ideas to life. Come ready to move, connect, and create.
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Join Youth Theatre Kenya in creating a collective piece of music and movement for the Kisima Festival.
Centered around the Swahili concept Uwe (to become), this collaborative 2-hour session explores the hope, possibility, and optimism of returning to love. Together, we’ll learn rich choral harmonies and simple physical staging to prepare a soulful group performance that we’ll share back with the entire festival. No singing or theatre experience needed—just bring your voice and spirit.

Artistic Director, frequent writer and director for the Youth Theatre of Kenya.

Aspiring Author and avid sportsman.

Abigail Leah Sage

A yoga teacher, Nonviolent Communication (NVC) trainer, and mediator, she blends intelligent movement, nervous system awareness, and compassionate communication. She creates warm, honest spaces where people feel safe to reconnect with their bodies, cultivate inner strength, and foster deeper, more authentic connections with themselves and others.

It is a dynamic, rehabilitative and functional movement practice, building strength, mobility and adaptability. Using movement science and neuroscience to rewire the communication between brain and body. Also known as LYT Method.
Nonviolent communication is a tool that’s used in conflict resolution, mediation, coaching, schools, organisations, prisons, social change and personal healing. A paradigm shift in how we communicate with ourselves and with others that cuts through all conflict and creates a sense of connection, choice and presence.

Jordan Filko

Originally from the United States and based in Kenya for 15 years, Jordan has practised yoga for over 15 years and taught for seven. Certified in Baptiste Power, Vinyasa, and Yin Yoga, she also integrates expressive arts therapy, creating inclusive, nature-inspired spaces for healing, creativity, and authentic connection.

Will explore the festival theme, individually and in community, through creative play that may involve one or more modalities including visual arts, movement, writing, music, ritual/ceremony and nature. By engaging the imagination we gain a different perspective and through creativity connect with our ability to create the life we want.
Will explore the festival theme, individually and in community, through creative play that may involve one or more modalities including visual arts, movement, writing, music, ritual/ceremony and nature. By engaging the imagination we gain a different perspective and through creativity connect with our ability to create the life we want.
Will explore the festival theme, individually and in community, through creative play that may involve one or more modalities including visual arts, movement, writing, music, ritual/ceremony and nature. By engaging the imagination we gain a different perspective and through creativity connect with our ability to create the life we want.

Jaini Nitinkumar Shah

Jaini Shah is a certified Rapid Transformational Therapist, WILDFIT Coach, and Food Relationship Coach who helps people heal their relationship with food, body, and mind. Inspired by her own recovery from burnout and Hashimoto's, she blends mindful eating, food psychology, and subconscious transformation to create lasting health and freedom.

A powerful session exploring why self-love is essential and how it shapes our thoughts, choices and overall happiness. A deep dive into rewiring negative self-talk and shifting limiting beliefs with Rapid Transformational Therapy-style self-love meditation to help reprogram the subconscious mind and instill a deep sense of worthiness and confidence.
A mindful eating experience exploring how we use food for comfort and love and what that means about our emotions and food. Creating awareness to understand what emotions are at play and how to love ourselves without having to rely on food.
Empowering kids through interaction and activities to instill self-confidence and love from a young age and empowering self-talk.

REBEKAH Sauder

Teaching yoga since 2010, Rebekah combines a Master's degree in chemical engineering with extensive yogic training, including 10 months in India, teachings with the Dalai Lama, and 122 days of silent meditation. Blending science with inner awareness, she helps students explore the profound connection between body, mind, and consciousness.

This back bending focussed session invites you to notice, soften, and remain present with whatever unfolds.
Breath and meditation centered in the heart space, incorporating gentle chanting of YAM, the mantra of the heart
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A slow, meditative yin practice focused on softening the chest, shoulders, and upper back, inviting deep rest and emotional ease.
Radiance is not something we put on; it is what becomes visible when the body, mind, and heart are deeply nourished and connected to life.

Zoe Goodman & Nelson Githuku

Zoë Goodman is an anthropologist and facilitator exploring wellbeing and collective care through creative, embodied methods with King's College London and Rebellious Care. Nelson Githuku is a theatre maker, writer, director, and facilitator with over 17 years' experience, bringing expertise from Kenyatta University's School of Performing Arts.

Paarticipants will share everyday rituals that they use to return to themselves and the earth. Using these rituals as core content, we will then work together to create a short theatre piece celebrating oneness in and with the earth.
Participants will be invited to surface challenging dynamics in their intimate relationships. We will then use Theatre of the Oppressed to identify avenues to connection and transformation.
We will use sock puppets in theatre games, songs and chants to infuse joy, laughter and oneness with kids
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Chief and Sarah

Chief & Sarah are the creators of Uli & Tata’s African Nursery Rhymes, a Kenyan animated series celebrating Africa’s cultural and natural heritage through music, storytelling and adventure.

Chief Nyamweya is a creative director, digital artist and storyteller, while Sarah Mallia is a creative producer. Together, they create playful, engaging stories that connect children and families with African songs, traditions, landscapes and cultural knowledge.

Join us for an immersive screening of Uli & Tata, where stories from the East Africa’s cultural and natural world come alive through songs, sound and participation. Children will watch some of the episodes following the curious duo's adventures on the back of a magical turaco bird, accompanied by live musical elements and interactive call-and-response moments. Young audience members won't just sit and watch - they will help sound out nature’s rhythms, sing along, and engage directly with the themes presented on screen.
Nature is the ultimate designer! In this hands-on creative workshop inspired by Uli & Tata, children explore biomimicry - the practice of learning from and mimicking nature to solve human problems. After discovering how animals and plants use clever features to survive (from bird wings to waterproof leaves), participants will build and draw their own nature-inspired inventions using natural materials.

Shayur Shah

Shayur is a lifelong student of meditation and Indian spirituality with extensive formal training in contemplative practices. Founder of Ecstatic Dance Kenya, he has facilitated transformative experiences for over three years, weaving meditation, cacao, music, movement, Contact Improvisation, kirtan, and nature into spaces of connection, presence, and joyful transformation

A guided free-form dance journey that invites deep connection to self, body, music and community. Moving through a wave of global rhythms, participants express, release, and expand in a safe, non-judgmental space. No steps to follow—just authentic movement
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A meditative, heart-centered practice blending simple movements, live music, and sacred chants from diverse traditions. Participants are guided in circle dances that cultivate connection, presence, and a sense of unity.
A meditative, heart-centered practice blending simple movements, live music, and sacred chants from diverse traditions. Participants are guided in circle dances that cultivate connection, presence, and a sense of unity.

Fela

With nearly 15 years in movement, training, and coaching, Felix is passionate about helping people explore movement with curiosity, joy, and self-expression. His training includes Ashtanga Vinyasa, Kundalini Yoga Level 1, Pilates, and Yoga Angels Foundation teacher training, integrating Iyengar and Vinyasa approaches into an embodied, playful practice.

A playful and fun way to express your body in new ways while releasing tightness and tension from the body (and mind) as we explore animal like movement and body
locomotion together as a group and community of explorative mover
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Narissa Allibhai

With eight years as a holistic wellness practitioner, Nari is a sound healing artist, facilitator, and founder of Sound Healing Africa. Trained in Nepal, she blends Nada Yoga, meditation, mindfulness, Hatha yoga, pranayama, bansuri, singing bowls, gongs, and other instruments to create deeply restorative, nature-inspired healing experiences.

A journey through various healing sounds to relax, release blockages, and harmonise body, mind and energy. We will activate and cleanse the chakras, and journey deep within ourselves and beyond the material realm to uncover what our higher selves, subconscious or spirit guides wish to show us.
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Tulsi Padia

Hatha Yoga is a traditional practice that combines asanas and mindful awareness to cultivate strength, flexibility, balance and a steady mind. It will involve longer holds and substantial time will be dedicated to meditation and pranayama
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A slow, floor-based practice where postures are held for several minutes to gently target the body’s deeper connective tissues. With an emphasis on stillness, breath and fascia release, Yin Yoga helps improve mobility and calm the nervous system, leaving you feeling deeply rested and restored
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A grounded and accessible introduction to the ancient wisdom of the traditional yoga tradition. We will explore some teachings that have guided practitioners for thousands of years. This session will cover the foundations of yogic philosophy and the timeless principles of yoga beyond the physical practice.

An Indian-Kenyan yoga teacher, Tulsi recently completed her 200-hour teacher training in Rishikesh after a lifelong practice rooted in Iyengar yoga. She teaches at her gym, hosts weekly home classes, and is preparing to move to Nairobi to share the philosophy and transformative practice of yoga more widely.

Chandvi

Chandvi is a holistic trauma therapist and ceremonial space holder with over 12 years of experience. Trained in regression and art therapy, family constellations, and plant medicine facilitation, she weaves diverse healing modalities to help people reconnect with their innate wisdom, heal inner wounds, and come home to themselves.

Cacao is the medicine of the heart and together as we sit in ceremony we can amplify this energy of love which will ripple into everything and everyone around us. We will connect to our hearts, connect to our essence and bring our innate gifts to this world
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is a powerful, guided journey through symbolic death and rebirth. Through voice, reflection, witnessing, and ritual, you'll release the stories you've silently carried, surrender what no longer serves you, and reconnect with the deeper truth of who you are. Come as you are

Victor Kioko Michael

Viktor is a certified dance teacher specialising in Dancehall and Flow Movement, creating dynamic workshops that blend technique, strength, body awareness, and self-expression. Working with both children and adults, Viktor fosters confidence, creativity, wellbeing, and community, making dance an accessible, joyful, and empowering experience for participants of all levels.

A dynamic movement practice focused on learning Dancehall steps, grooves, and vocabulary while developing body control, musicality, coordination, and strength in movement. The sessions encourage confidence, individuality, and expressive movement while creating opportunities for participants to connect, share energy, and build a sense of community through dance.
A movement practice designed to help people reconnect with their bodies, develop confidence, and express themselves freely through movement. Participants explore fluidity, body awareness, musicality, rhythm, transitions, and different movement qualities while developing their own movement language. The practice encourages presence, creativity, emotional expression, and a deeper connection between body, mind, and movement
A playful and creative movement practice designed to support children’s coordination, body awareness, rhythm, confidence, and self-expression. Through age-appropriate movement games, exploration, and guided exercises, children develop physical awareness, creativity, and social connection while discovering the joy and freedom of movement.

Furaha Ruguru

Furaha Ruguru is a certified music junkie, events host and DJ who proudly promotes Kenyan Music to the world. Whether it's through engaging articles, live events or curated mixes, her work introduces people to the rich diversity of our cultural heritage. You will most likely find her on the joyful dancefloor where music, culture, wellness and community meet.

Fela and Furaha will lead a grounding dance session that will bring us together in love and joy on the Kisima dancefloor. We'll flow through 5 conscious reggae songs which will remind us to love ourselves, each other and nature. One love one heart, let's get together and feel alright

Safia Abji

Safia Abji is a Co-Active trained, trauma-informed coach, consultant, and curator with nearly two decades of global experience. She supports individuals and organisations through leadership, cultural transformation, and personal growth, creating immersive, psychologically safe spaces that foster self-awareness, authentic connection, courage, and lasting individual and collective change.

Through guided reflection, journaling, and meditation, participants gently uncover where and why they’ve closed to love in themselves and others. By naming these patterns in a safe, shared space, we see how love is both the absence we feel and the medicine we need.
A facilitated relational lab using structured sharing, deep listening, and consent-based connection exercises between participants. Here, love becomes a lived experience as we meet fear, vulnerability, and presence together. A collective ritual anchors the understanding that love is both what creates disconnection when absent and what restores it when chosen
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Through storytelling, movement, and simple partner activities, children explore how love feels in their bodies and actions. They learn that love is not just a feeling, but something they can give, receive, and return to when things feel hard.

Oriane Tourny Torode

Oriane has shared her passion for yoga and wellbeing for over two decades. A certified Functional Medicine Health Coach, she offers uplifting, holistic practices that help people reconnect with their bodies, calm their minds, and cultivate vibrant, sustainable health through movement, mindfulness, and an integrative approach to wellbeing.

Are you feeling functionally aligned? Functional medicine TOOLS to design your UNIQUE road for optimal health (hormones included) and find energetic balance.
Slow flow yoga infused with mindful movement to honour all that Kisima Festival has to offer. Move slowly, breathe deeply, and prepare for meditation as the sun sets over Kisima's beautiful baobab landscape, creating space for whatever comes next
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A fun and creative workshop where children become “world builders”. Using paint, collage, natural materials and playful prompts to create their own unique maps of the world they dream of. We’ll explore what makes us feel happy, safe and connected
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Hankar Sisters (Kaya and Nicole)

The Hankar Sisters, Nicole and Kaya, facilitate somatic and energetic healing experiences rooted in lived transformation. Blending nervous system regulation, shadow integration, and light language, they guide people toward deeper self-connection. Through private sessions, ceremonies, and immersive experiences, they create spaces for release, embodiment, healing, and authentic presence.

A live ceremonial experience blending somatic healing, spoken word, and light language transmission. A space where the body softens, the nervous system settles, and love is remembered as an embodied state.
Through breath, body awareness, and sound, participants are guided to gently return to themselves where love was once interrupted.
An Embodied Workshop on Capacity, Presence & Allowing Life In. A gentle exploration of what it truly means to receive. Through somatic practices, guided inquiry, partner exercises and embodied reflection, we explore the subtle ways we move away from beauty, appreciation, support, love and even ourselves
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Sahar Jamal

Sahar Jamal is an entrepreneur, ICF-certified coach (ACC), angel investor, and advocate for women’s health and economic empowerment. Inspired by her Tanzanian and Indian heritage, she has spent the past decade supporting female leadership. She is certified by the Center for Creative Leadership and holds an MBA from Northwestern University

An inclusive, community space for people to contribute their personal spiritual rituals (SpiRituals).We will come together in a circle and put an 'open-mic’ spin on traditional spiritual ceremonies by co-creating and remixing our collective practices
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This session will help participants uncover their true desires, unleash action, and unlock growth through practical coaching conversations and exercises.
Shaping our Matriarchal Future: Cultivating Divine Feminine Leadership
The world needs more feminine leadership skills (from both men and women) but most of us are conditioned to fit the molds of our current patriarchal society. What would it look like to live into our divine feminine and how would this impact society?

Elvis Waithaka Gitau and Andrew Oluoch

Teacher Waithaka is a Kilifi-based educator and storyteller creating child-centred spaces where children feel seen, heard, and free to express themselves. Through storytelling, art, play, and performance, he nurtures emotional development, creative confidence, and imagination. As the voice behind Shujaa Stories, he celebrates culture, identity, and every child's unique story.

Using simple prompts and storytelling, they learn to hear themselves and others without judgment.
A gentle art and storytelling session for children to explore their feelings, identity, and imaginatio
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Through drawing and guided prompts, they learn to express what they may not yet have words for.
A hands-on art space where children create freely using accessible materials.
The focus is on joy, emotional release, and self-expression—not perfection.
A guided session where children draw or write messages to people they love or miss.
It helps them process emotions gently and creatively.
Is a playful, engaging session that helps children slow down, notice their thoughts, feelings and connect with the present moment through art, movement, breathing and nature. Children build emotional awareness, confidence and creativity while having fun in a safe welcoming space.

Ricqesh Parmar

Ricqesh is a ceremonial space holder and Masculine Embodiment coach dedicated to supporting men in reclaiming healthy masculinity. Trained with The Soul of Men in the UK and initiated into masculinity in 2023, he co-founded Men of Fire Africa, helping men embody their purpose, strength, vulnerability, and authentic gifts.

A safe space for men to gather together. Through meditation, group embodiment exercises and ceremony we will come together as Tribe.

Noosim

Noosim is a Pan-African communalist, researcher, and filmmaker dedicated to creating liberatory curricula and pedagogies that foster collective healing and transformation. Noosim curated the African Communities of Healing Praxis, an innovative methodology that equips communities with practical tools for holistic liberation, resilience, cultural renewal, and collective wellbeing.

Where did the problems begin? A reflection on colonialism, alienation, ecological disconnection and the erosion of communal life as roots of many contemporary afflictions. Practice: Improvisational "human timeline" exercise and facilitated dialogue.
Where are we now? An exploration of burnout, anxiety, social isolation, commodified care and the pressures of contemporary life. Practice: Embodied group tableau and collective mapping exercise.
What futures can we imagine? A discussion on African methodologies of healing, collective care, spirituality, ecology and community self-organization as pathways toward wellbeing. Practice: Small-group future visioning, improvised scenes and dialogue circle
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Saddy and Nick

Saddy is the founder of Kaya Aerial Fitness, a certified Yoga, Aerial Yoga, and Aerial Silks instructor, performance artist, and entrepreneur with over seven years of experience in wellness and fitness. As one of the few qualified aerial instructors in Kenya, he has trained hundreds of students and performed at corporate, cultural, and private events. Through Kaya Aerial Fitness, he promotes strength, flexibility, confidence, creativity, and healthy living through movement and aerial arts.

Uses a soft hammock on yoga poses enhancing flexibility and grace
Aerial silks is a performance art and fitness discipline where artists climb, wrap, and perform acrobatics on long, suspended fabric.

Kerstin

Kerstin believes in the transformative power of connecting humans with nature and animals. As the founder of HorseBay in Watamu, she combines her lifelong passion for horses with 20 years of experience at the United Nations. Her expertise lies in embodied and intuitive transformation. Kerstin is certified in Transpersonal Coaching Psychology by the International Association of Coaches, Therapists, and Mentors (IACTM).
She will be showing us the magical world of healing with horses during the festival and a workshop in Animal Communication with Pau.

Experience the calming and restorative presence of horses in a session designed to reconnect you with yourself, nature, the community, and the present. Through observation, mindful interaction, and simple nature-based practices, participants will discover how horses help reduce stress, increase self-awareness, and create a sense of balance and inner calm.
Horses have the ability to respond to the hidden dynamics within individuals, relationships, teams, and communities. Participants will explore a question or challenge through a horse-guided constellation process. The horses act as intuitive mirrors, helping reveal what seeks attention, healing, or movement within a system.
Transformation begins when we move beyond old patterns and step into greater clarity, authenticity, and self-agency. Participants will connect deeper with the energy of the horses and will feel in, release and access a new perspective. Participants will leave with an embodied change experience
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Through guided activities, children will learn about horse communication, friendship, trust, and respect while exploring how horses express emotions and connect with the world around them. The experience includes a creative nature-inspired painting activity.
Recommended age: 5–12 years (younger children welcome with parental support).
- What happens when we extend love beyond ourselves? This panel brings together voices from animal communication, horse care, snake conservation and animal welfare. This panel explores how we can deepen our respect, curiosity and care for the more-than-human world, and learn to live alongside animals with greater understanding and love.

Daniel Stoker

Danny has practised yoga for over 20 years and has taught yoga and meditation for the past decade. Initiated into Babaji's Kriya Yoga lineage in 2018, he leads community classes in Nairobi, guiding students beyond physical postures into the deeper, more subtle dimensions of yoga and meditation.

Kriya Yoga is a system of techniques (Hatha, Pranayama, Dhyana and Mantra), which bring about awareness and self realisation. The practice has enormous potential to make us more conscious human beings. The tradition from Siddhanta, was revived for today’s modern world by Babaji Nagaraj

Tamara Britten

Tamara is a 200-hour certified in Hatha/Vinyasa, and 200-hour certified in Multi-styles (SUP, Aerial and Acroyoga), and 200-hour certified in Yin Yoga.

She is the founder of Karibu Kenya, a wellness focused tour operator in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda &Tanzania.Tamara has taught yoga in Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Thailand &UK and she is one of the founder and organizers of Kilifi Wellness Festival.

We’ll start with an introduction to writing techniques. Then the group will get a prompt, and have time for free writing inspired by this. Next, we’ll look at editing skills, and the group will go deeper into their pieces, revising and honing them. We’ll finish with optional sharing and feedback.

Heather Gordon Athié

Heather is an Oxygen Advantage Practitioner, Mental Resilience Trainer, Somatic Yoga Teacher, certified Advanced Wim Hof Method Instructor, and Nutritional Health Coach. Founder of Caluna Wellness and Kisima Festival, she leads transformative retreats, trainings, and corporate programmes worldwide, helping people cultivate resilience, vitality, and lasting wellbeing through engaging, science-backed, embodied practices.

Think you Know Breathwork? This class busts a lot of breathwork myths and sets the foundations for the breathwork practices you might explore at Kisima festival. We will explore the full continuum of breathing practices, from hyperventilatory to hypoventilatory techniques and everything between. How biomechanics, chemistry, and mindset shape each approach, and learn when to apply different methods for different needs in life!
Cold is far more than an endurance challenge. Explore the science and practice of therapeutic cold exposure, including its effects on the nervous system, inflammation, metabolism, mood, and resilience. Learn how to apply cold safely, effectively, and intentionally to support physical health, mental wellbeing, and everyday performance.

Paula - Mujer Naturaleza

Paula is the creator of Mujer Naturaleza, a certified life coach, and specialist in feminine cyclicality, womb healing, sacred sexuality, Tantra, and herbalism. Through meditation, breathwork, movement, dance, and plant wisdom, she guides individuals toward self-knowledge, embodied healing, balance, and a deeper connection with their authentic nature.

Our uterine memories are records of information that we receive in our mother's womb, from the DNA of our mother, father and ancestors, and from everything that happens from the moment of conception and affects and conditions our lives. We´ll enter this field to do the necessary movements.
A breathwork system based on tantric techniques, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Gestalt Psychology, which integrates breathwork, movement and meditation, in which we come into contact with our consciousness, sexual and heart energies, move and transmute them, making alchemy to heal and manifest what is necessary in our life
Tantra is Presence and Love and it is the acceptance and integration of all that we are, including sexuality, which is the origin of all life. This is an invitation to experience ourselves and resignify intimacy, connection, pleasure and life itself.
Since we are very young, many of our emotional needs are not covered and we learn that love is limited. We slowly create an identity to protect ourselves and to respond to the external expectations to “receive love”, closing our hearts and learning to relate from fear and scarcity. As we grow up we unconsciously try to cover those unfulfilled needs through our relationships… creating codependency relationships. We will explore how to open our hearts, attend those needs and remember ways to relate from love.

Lieke Aarninkhof

I am a certified life and leadership coach working with expatriates and professionals in Kenya who are navigating significant life and career transitions. Drawing on my background in social science, years in high‑pressure IT consulting, and my own move from the Netherlands to Nairobi, I combine a deep understanding of human change with practical, business‑savvy support.

Neha

Neha works at the intersection of spirituality, politics and philosophy, supporting individuals and organizations to cultivate consciousness as the foundation for healing, leadership, and lasting personal, collective, and systemic transformation. Drawing on years of practice across change-making, healing, teaching and consulting, her work bridges inner transformation with real-world challenges, helping people and institutions shift how they see, relate, and act in times of complexity and change, and guiding them on the path to their highest possibilities.

How can we harness the vibratory power of love to change our world? Come on a journey to discover just how powerful the Heart is, and how much Love can do to heal ourselves and our world.
Intuition is a forgotten power we all hold, hidden within the technology of our bodies. It is there to help us to navigate our lives and our creations in the world. Join Neha in this session to begin the journey of remembering how to see and know, beyond time and space for the Highest Good of All.
Can music do more than entertain? Through two short Kisima films and an open conversation, explore how Kenyan activists and artists use music, community and nature to process grief, build connection and sustain resistance. Rhythm and Revolution asks what becomes possible when creativity itself becomes a form of healing

Siyolo

She is a tea enthusiast/pourer, hatha yoga instructor and a growing shamba baby who loves to sip tea, burn incense and practice the art of BEing while learning about the wonderful world of plant medicine. Offerings for kisima include a partner yoga practice for the kiddos & family, and tea for all who enjoy sharing herbal medicine knowledge.

karibu to an interactive thai yoga massage practice rooted in hindu & buddhist philosophy: ‘Metta’—loving kindness. In this session we will learn & exercise thai massage techniques with a partner in a healing space. All ages/levels/partners/singles welcome. Couples recommended, singles paired up on site.
☝🏿pls note: come 15 min before start of session to clean feet/body’s parts & pair up folks in time efficient manner.
Intentional & interactive yoga practice with guided assists/alignment support by partner to deepen stretches & movement in the body for healing purposes

Mbutch Mjingoma

Mbutch Mjingoma is a Kenyan percussionist, performer, instrument maker and ethnomusicologist specialising in traditional Kenyan music, particularly coastal rhythms and instruments. His work is deeply rooted in the history, customs and cultural meaning behind the music. He is also a breathwork practitioner and creator of Bung’o Sound and Vibration Healing, combining breath, indigenous instruments, didgeridoo, coastal sounds and water into immersive healing journeys.

Step into the rhythm of Kenya’s coast and discover the Kayamba, a unique traditional percussion instrument rooted in coastal culture. In this hands-on circle, Mbutch will guide you through playing techniques, songs and movement, building rhythm, coordination and connection to land and community. Participants who catch the groove may even be invited to join the festival finale performance.
Lie back, close your eyes and journey through vibration. Mbutch Mjingoma guides an immersive sound healing experience using didgeridoo and resonant tones to invite deep rest, release and reconnection.
Lie back, close your eyes and journey through vibration as Mbutch Mjingoma’s deep didgeridoo tones meet Melina’s melodic handpan. Together they create an immersive soundscape that invites deep rest, release and reconnection, blending earthy resonance with flowing, meditative rhythms.

Jihan Kikhia

Jihan was born in exile and raised in Paris while her father, a Libyan human rights lawyer, was the peaceful opposition leader to Qaddafi’s regime. After her father disappeared from Cairo, her family lived between the United States and France, while her mother, a Syrian artist, fought for justice in an international campaign. Jihan received her BA in International and Comparative Politics with a concentration in Human Rights, Philosophy, and International Law and her MA in Art Education and Storytelling. Her first feature-length documentary, My Father and Qaddafi, had its World Premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in 2025 and has featured in over 50 festivals worldwide.

When Jihan was six years old, her father flew to Cairo and never returned. Mansur Rashid Kikhia was the Foreign Minister of Libya, ambassador to the United Nations, and a human rights lawyer. After serving in Qaddafi's increasingly brutal regime, he defected from the government and became the leader of the peaceful opposition. For many, Kikhia was a rising star who could have been the next leader of Libya, however, in 1993 he disappeared from his hotel in Egypt. Jihan pieces together her mother’s 19-year search to find him. Without any memory of her father, she tries to reconnect with him and reconcile with her Libyan identity. For trailer and more information: Www.myfatherandqaddafi.com

Stan Kiraga

Stan Kiraga is a respected Mijikenda elder, researcher, and cultural advocate. His work began in the late 1990s documenting Mijikenda history, language, and cultural traditions, heavily focusing on Giriama heritage. Over nearly three decades, his focus expanded from cultural preservation into active grassroots humanitarian work and social justice advocacy

Step into the living traditions of the Mijikenda and explore how spirituality, ancestry, community and the natural world are woven together. A grounded conversation about beliefs, practices and wisdom that continue to shape life on the Kenyan coast.
Traditional songs carry memory, history and identity. Discover the Lutsaga Project, a collaboration with Baobab Studios to record, preserve and celebrate traditional music, helping keep these sounds and stories alive for future generation.

Nazizi Hirji

Nazizi Hirji is a Kenyan hip hop and reggae icon, radio host and key member of the award-winning Necessary Noize. With decades in the industry, she is known for her powerful stage presence, hit records and lasting influence on East Africa’s music scene.

A transformative workshop tailored for performers, artists and creators , navigating the highs and lows of public attention. Led by Nazizi Hirji a performing artist and psychologist. With 25 years experience in the Music industry

Maurice Anyika Kimani

Maurice Kimani is a landscaper and soil regeneration steward at Bio Soil Solutions, working to restore living soils through regenerative practice, partnerships and education. His work includes consultation, workshops and stewardship training focused on healthier soils and landscapes.

Soil is more than something we stand on. It holds memory, life, nourishment and the story of a place. Gather around a collection of soil samples from across Kilifi and explore what they reveal about the landscapes around us. Through observation and conversation, this circle invites us to reflect on our relationship with soil, regeneration, food, ecology and the living systems beneath our feet. A simple invitation to slow down, look closer and reconnect with the ground that holds us.
What stories are hiding in the soil beneath us?In this playful, hands-on session, children will explore different soil samples gathered from around Kilifi, noticing their colours, textures, smells and differences. Together, we’ll use soil as a starting point for curiosity, conversation and connection with the land we live on. A chance to get close to the earth, ask questions and discover just how alive the ground beneath our feet really is.

Wanjira Wanjiru

Wanjira Wanjiru is a grassroots activist and co-founder of the Mathare Social Justice Centre and Matigari Youth Book Club. Her work focuses on human rights, social justice and community organising, and she was nominated for Human Rights Defender of the Year in 2020.

What does it mean to love a country, especially through struggle, change and resistance? Wanjira Wanjiru traces stories of Kenyan history, courage and belonging, weaving in call-and-response songs that remind us how deeply people have always loved, defended and imagined Kenya.

Kiriba village

Kiriba Village is a community in Kilifi County, Kenya, where families are keeping alive and adapting traditions of mutual care, ecological stewardship, food production, song, dance and collective work. The community works with Grassroots Economics to explore commitment pooling, drawing on long-standing practices of reciprocity and shared responsibility while experimenting with new ways to coordinate resources and support one another.

Join the mamas of Kiriba Village for an open conversation rooted in local knowledge, regenerative farming and care for the Takaungu Watershed. A space to share stories, ideas and experiences of living with and restoring the land and water that connect our communities.
Step into the living rhythms of Giriama culture through traditional song and dance. This joyful, participatory session explores the music, movement and stories carried through generations, revealing how rhythm connects community, ceremony, memory and celebration. Come ready to listen, learn, move and experience the spirit of Giriama tradition together.
What becomes possible when we stop thinking only in terms of individual exchange and start pooling what we have together? This session explores commitment pooling through the lens of mweria and dhome, mutual aid practices rooted in collective contribution, reciprocity and shared wellbeing.
We’ll explore how these principles connect to The Kisima Well, our festival currency, and how alternative ways of exchanging value can strengthen community, deepen trust and help resources circulate where they are most needed.

Muthoni Mwangi

Muthoni Mwangi is a Kenyan visual research and collage artist whose work explores how cities, communities and identities are shaped through history, movement, memory and belonging. Through her signature Narrative Boxes, she creates layered miniature worlds that invite us to question how places are built, who gets to belong and how we might imagine different futures.

What makes a place feel like home? Join artist Muthoni Mwangi and Green Heart for a hands-on creative workshop where you’ll use materials to build your own community in a box, exploring what we share, what we protect and how we want to live together.

Lachie Gordon Athie

Lachie brings project management and entrepreneurial expertise to Green Heart Kilifi and is committed to guiding the project into reality. With 10 years of experience bringing together large festivals in the event industry in the UK, he has the benefit of having overseen the design, construction and dismantlement of dozens of temporary towns throughout his career. His experience in starting, building and exiting two companies over the last decade is key to the design and development of the Green Heart Kilifi structure and team. Lachie brings a deep passion for regenerative practices and productive natural systems and holds a BEng in mechanical engineering from Edinburgh University.

What makes a place feel like home? Join artist Muthoni Mwangi and Green Heart for a hands-on creative workshop where you’ll use materials to build your own community in a box, exploring what we share, what we protect and how we want to live together.
What if we designed our communities with nature as the starting point? Explore how regenerative planning, reforestation and protected wild spaces can help people and ecosystems thrive together.
What does it really mean to return to love in the world we are living in now? Bringing together voices from across Kisima’s worlds of healing, culture, community, creativity, nature and conversation, this panel explores love not just as a feeling, but as a practice, a choice and a force for change.
Expect different perspectives, honest conversation and a few questions that may stay with you long after the festival.

Eddie Kimathi

Edgar Kimathi has practised Vipassana meditation for over 15 years, with intensive training in Thailand and India. A certified World Peace Initiative Peace Agent, he is passionate about cultivating inner peace and helping others develop greater mindfulness and conscious connection. He co-founded Conscious Kenya and regularly facilitates mindfulness retreats, with a particular love for working with children.

a journey into movement and sound in a safe and supportive space for participants to explore and connect with their bodies, emotions, and creativity. In this dance of life, participants will experience a series of movements and experiences to tap into their inner reservoirs of trust, courage, playfulness and compassion
Experience a gentle immersion into mindfulness and stillness with the help of your breath. Anapanasati - awareness of breathing is a simple yet powerful practice that nurtures a deep sense of tranquility and wellbeing. From this zen space, we will journey deeper into awareness of our inner states and have an opportunity to step into more clarity, peace and happiness.
This will be a fun, joyful and free exploration of our senses and feelings through play and games. A gentle introduction to mindfulness for the younger ages.

Harry Williams

British toxinologist & conservationist. Fanatical about snakes, trees and making a difference.

Snakes are far more fascinating than their fearsome reputation suggests. Discover how these extraordinary creatures move, hunt, communicate and play a vital role in healthy ecosystems. Expect surprising facts, myth-busting and a rare chance to meet a live snake up close.
Think snakes are scary? Think again! Come discover the weird, wonderful and surprisingly clever world of snakes. Find out how they move with no legs, smell with their tongues and why they’re actually great for nature. There’ll be fun facts, silly myths busted and, yes… a real live snake to meet!

Faith

Faith Gathoni is a Kenyan lawyer, writer, yoga teacher and lifelong student of the inner life. Her work and curiosity sit at the intersection of consciousness, beauty, awe, meaning and human possibility.

She completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training in India and has taught in India, Sri Lanka and Kenya. Her teaching is grounded, spacious and contemplative. She is particularly interested in the ways embodied practice can open us to stillness, wonder and a greater sense of connection.

A steady, grounding Hatha practice exploring the relationship between movement, breath and awareness.
We’ll move through a considered sequence of asanas, varying how long we hold or move through each pose. The practice will include pranayama and meditation, with an emphasis on cultivating strength, mobility, balance and mental clarity.
Suitable for all levels.

Mukendi

Mukendi Misenga Christine is a Congolese-born, Kenya-based multidisciplinary artist, fire dancer, and aerialist. She is the founder of BISO Learning, empowering youth through creative education. A seasoned performer both locally and internationally, Kisima Festival marks her debut as a fire dance workshop facilitator, inviting others to reconnect with their inner fire and shared humanit

A dance journey into fire as a metaphor for power, presence, and transformation.
We move through what burns, fuels, and connects us, awakening the body’s inner flame.
Participants explore breath, rhythm, and intuitive movement as tools for unity.
A joyful session where children dance like sparks, flames, and bonfires.
We play with rhythm, shapes, and stories to explore togetherness through fire.
Each child leaves knowing their light grows brighter when shared.
A meditative aerial session exploring unity through balance, stillness, and breath.
Participants connect to fire’s quiet strength while suspended on the trapeze.
We flow between gravity and grace, finding harmony in the air.

MADCA

We have partnered with our friends at Madca to bring you closer to the roots of this land. Madca are dedicated to preserving Mijikenda heritage through art, music & community while protecting it's keepers (our Elders).

Songs carry memory. learn about the lutsaga project- where MADCA and Baobab Studios have recorded and preserved traditional music, keeping ancestral sound alive for generations to come.
Come closer to the living wisdom of the Mijikenda. Explore spirituality, ancestry, community, nature and the beliefs that have shaped generations.
Discover the stories, knowledge and traditions carried through Mijikenda food. Led by MADCA, this session explores how ingredients are grown, prepared and shared, and the deeper connection between food, land, community and culture. Come to learn, taste and experience traditional food as something that nourishes far more than the body.
Every drum has a different healing property.
Feel the rhythm in your body. Explore drumming as a pathway into connection, release, expression and collective healing.

Inkeri von Hase

Trained across three sacred yoga lineages—Kundalini Yoga under Gurmukh in Mexico (2022), Yin Yoga in New York (2018), and the Sivananda tradition in India (2011), Inkeri von Hase is an international yoga teacher devoted to awakening inner power. Her offerings are immersive journeys that weave Kundalini postures, conscious breath, meditation, and mantra to activate radiance, vitality, and spiritual remembrance

centred around a sacred kriya (set of poses) designed to guide us beyond the ordinary state of mind and into a profound meditative experience.
Through rhythmic movement, chanting, dance, and partner exercises, we will reset the nervous system, recalibrate the brain, release tension and cultivate a deeper sense of inner balance and connection.

Breathrenn

Breathrenn is an organic farmer, instrumentalist and sound curator that fuses elements of old and new to gently guide listeners through and to a steady buildup to or landing from a sonic journey.

They will be offering Kalimba Cirles and disscussions with adults and kids and Innerspace Trance Missions at the Festival.

A participatory circle using kalimbas tuned together, where we slowly build a collective piece of music. It’s very accessible even for people who have never played before, and becomes quite meditative once everyone settles into the shared rhythm.
A deeper sound journey similar to the session I facilitated at Baobab Studio last year. More of an inward listening experience using sound, repetition, breath and different acoustic textures.

Wacuka Munyiri (Web3Clubs)

Wacuka Munyiri is an ecosystem builder and Chief of Staff at Web3Clubs. Her passion is on strengthening capacity for young people to engage with emerging technologies and creating opportunities for them to build, experiment and participate in the digital economy.

Shot K (Web3Clubs)

Shot K is a serial entrepreneur, founder, engineer, and marketer from the USA. Shot previously served as Head of Public Goods at NEAR Protocol, a billion-dollar blockchain, where Shot worked on critical infrastructure, business development, developer relations, grant and capital allocation, and interfaces with engineers and leading projects across the global crypto ecosystem. Before Shot’s father had a stroke earlier this year, Shot was building reply.cash and POTLOCK, an open payments and open funding stack that made private payments accessible in the Global South and made unstoppable funding a reality. An educator, Shot has built communities in the global Muslim tech ecosystem through ummah.build and some of crypto’s most viral DAOs, and has continued building for social tech. After Shot’s father had a stroke, Shot saw how few resources and products were available for the world’s second-leading cause of death and dropped everything to start Stroke, Technology, Inc. and build HealStroke, now the go-to stroke recovery app. Shot advises projects around the world and builds a new app every week for the love of the game. plugrel.com

Antoine Woody (Web3Clubs)

Antoine Woody is an international wellness practitioner, speaker, and human performance coach with over a decade of experience bridging the worlds of human consciousness, holistic well-being, and personal transformation. Integrating sound therapy, breathwork, and conscious dialogue, he curates immersive experiences that cultivate profound self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and authentic human connection.

Ochieng Odhiambo (Web3Clubs)

Ochieng Odhiambo is a community builder and tech enthusiast with a passion for emerging technology and human flourishing. As co-founder of Web3Clubs in Nairobi, he started in developer relations, onboarding the community's very first developers and growing a grassroots network into one of Africa's most active emerging-tech hubs. Today he leads partnerships and ecosystem growth, connecting projects and founders with builders across the continent. With a background in art and design, business, product management and UI/UX, he brings a human-centred lens to technology. His goal is to contribute to human flourishing by reducing material suffering.

Technology is not neutral, and many of us have felt what it can take from us: our attention, our time, our sense of connection. This conversation starts there. We ask what it would mean to build and use technology with awareness, care and intention, and what the healing and regen communities already know that the tech world needs to learn. Come with your doubts. They are welcome here, and they are where the good questions start.
AI is arriving whether we are ready or not, and it brings both real fears and real hopes. This panel looks honestly at both. What do we risk losing, and what might we gain? Who decides which future we get, and what role can communities like this one play in shaping it? We won't offer easy answers. We want an open, grounded conversation about the world we are choosing to build.
Product 1 - Pocket Author
PocketAuthor, The book operating system built to help founders turn the knowledge they already have into a published book in under a month.
Product 2 - SISI

Hilda Ritah Mugasia

Hilda Ritah Mugasia is a lawyer working at the intersection of financial systems, technology, and economic policy. Her work explores how emerging technologies, digital assets, and data are reshaping the creation, ownership, and exchange of value. She is particularly interested in the legal and governance frameworks needed to navigate these shifts and build more inclusive digital economies.

Emmanuel YTK

Emmanuel mostly known as Manu is a theatre practitioner with 8years of extensive experience working with kids and the youth. He is currently the Executive Director at Youth Theatre Kenya(YTK) where he is also actively involved in putting up social-impactful and thought provoking performances. He has also Drama at Kivukoni for 4years and continues to use his experience in nurturing individuals that are able to use their voice to become better leaders in their communities.

Explore kindness, empathy and caring for others through drama games, role-play and storytelling.
Move, laugh, imagine and connect through playful drama activities that celebrate joy, friendship and togetherness.
Use stories, movement and imagination to explore the different ways we can give, receive and express love.

Kisima Healers And Therapists

Alexandra NOËL

As a Physiotherapist for over 20 years, with a passion for exploring the links between people’s physical symptoms and their life stories, I quickly turned to Etiotherapy to help them release their emotions and speed up their recovery

How to use your own pulse to receive information that is right for you and/or for someone else. A tool for centering and questioning—a fantastic tool that is always with you.

Tunu Ramtu

I am a seasoned lobbyist and human rights advocate with deep expertise in designing and managing programs that promote social change and equality for marginalized communities in Africa. I am skilled in program development, grant management, social research, and advocacy, particularly in humanitarian, peace, and security contexts. My main area of interest lies in the intersection of Gender, Security, and Human Rights, reflecting my commitment to advancing inclusivity and sustainable peace.

The Twin Hearts Meditation and crystal group healing practice reminds us of the truth that it is in giving that we receive. As we offer blessings of compassion, healing, and goodwill to Mama Earth and all higher beings, we open ourselves to receive those same divine qualities in return.

Cecilia Nyokabi Maingi

My name is Kafi founder of Hands On Wellness—a mobile massage practice rooted in holistic healing and intentional touch. My approach is both technical and intuitive, honoring the body’s wisdom while easing discomfort and stress. Whether it’s on the field, at a retreat, or in someone’s living room, I meet clients where they are—with grounded presence and a focus on wellness

Athman Mohamed Famau

Athman Mohamed is a Kenyan acupuncturist and wellness practitioner with over 15 years of experience in acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), addiction recovery support, and community health. Their expertise includes acupuncture, cupping therapy, moxibustion, reflexology, therapeutic massage, and herbal medicine, with a strong focus on helping people manage chronic pain, diabetes, stroke recovery, infertility, stress, and other chronic health conditions through holistic, patient-centered care

Kate Rebecca Cosgrave

Katie is a trained therapist specializing in Advanced Ayurvedic Therapeutic Massage, Namikoshi Shiatsu, Ayurvedic Yoga Massage, Emotional Release Massage, Ayurvedic therapies and Panchakarma, Ayurvedic pregnancy and baby care/massage, Ayurvedic beauty therapy, and Ayurvedic nutrition and cooking. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, Katie offers private therapeutic sessions. She also facilitates workshops, professional trainings, and retreats, sharing her expertise across Africa, Europe, and Asia.

We have partnered with our friends at Madca to bring you closer to the roots of this land. Madca are dedicated to preserving Mijikenda heritage through art, music & community while protecting it's keepers (our Elders).

Step into a traditional spa space. You will move through a three tiered experience: starting with traditional Massage to support your aching muscles, followed by entering the heat- you will Slow down, sweat, soften, followed by a smoke cleansing ritual imbued with, scent and intention. This traditional spa is a cleansing practice to clear, protect and prepare body, spirit and mind. Feel rejuvenated!
Discover another way of understanding health and imbalance. Learn how traditional healers work with observation, plants and inherited knowledge to support wellbeing.

We will teach Self Shiatsu techniques and foot massage - focusing on shiatsu foot massage, self oil foot massage and full body self shiatsu techniques

Kisima Artists

Abdi Rashid Jibril

Student of percussion since 1987 with a background in Afro Cuban, Brazilian and West African Percussion with experience playing in large ensemble format and as a band member in jazz and fusion combos.

RECORDINGS:

Keenan Webster & Balafo “Talking Wood” 2007 Maia von Lekow “Drift” 2012 Eddie Grey “Stories by the Lake” 2013 Kombo & Afro Simba “Pandizo” scheduled release March 2016

Leo Mkanyia, “Bangili”, 2017

Sarabi, “Untitled”, 2018

Fiston Lusambo, “Kabila Moja”, 2021

He is responsible for the production of a weekly music series in Nairobi entitled Thursday Nite Live @ Choices featuring local and regional artists sharing original music in the genres of Acoustic, Jazz, Fusion and Roots Music since November 2011 to Present.

Ms. Nyawira Siren

Nyawĩra is a Singer – Songwriter and Music Producer from Kenya. She is fondly referred to as “Nyawĩra Siren” due to her strong connection to the water element, her magnificent voice timbre, and her deep passion for the art of sound.

Nyawĩra’s music blends Gĩkũyũ Folk Sounds with Reggae, Neo-Soul, House, and Jazz influences. She writes and sings in Gĩkũyũ, Swahili, and English, crafting a unique sonic tapestry that is both deeply rooted in her cultural heritage and globally resonant. She has named her genre “Urban Folk Soul”.

NDIBØ

NDIBØ is a Kenyan multidisciplinary artist whose work lives at the intersection of music, ritual, and community. Blending Afro Soul, alternative sounds, folk influences and spoken reflection, she creates intimate performances that invite audiences to slow down, feel deeply, and reconnect with themselves.

Her practice extends beyond the stage into tea ceremonies, community gatherings and other intentional spaces, all rooted in the belief that art can be a vessel for remembrance, healing and belonging. Through vulnerable storytelling and immersive live experiences, NDIBØ explores identity, ancestry, love and the quiet courage of being fully present.

Having first experienced Kisima as a place of profound personal transformation, she returns with a performance that offers audiences the same invitation she once received: to come as they are, to be witnessed, and to remember that they are already home.

Nkatha Muthoni

Nkatha Muthoni is a Nairobi-based singer-songwriter and multidisciplinary artist who creates immersive sonic worlds that explore the profound, often unspoken dimensions of the human experience.

She weaves intentional lyricism, intricate vocal arrangements, and lush musical landscapes into music that offers listeners a compassionate space for reflection, healing, and perspective.

Blending vulnerable storytelling with a sophisticated approach to vocal harmony and expression, Nkatha's work seeks to uncover the magic within the ordinary.

At its heart, her artistry is driven by a simple yet transformative purpose: to create music that makes every listener feel deeply seen, understood, and connected.

Aphropatra

Aphopatra is a Kenyan multidisciplinary artist, singer-songwriter, and herbalist whose work lives at the intersection of art, storytelling, and healing. With a strong foundation in soul, expression, and a rich African identity, her sound blends several genres, including alternative, neo-soul, R&B, reggae, and jazz, into what she describes as Afro-fusion.

Beyond art, she is a trained herbalist and founder of The Aphro Apothecary, a natural wellness brand dedicated to holistic living. This practice informs her creative approach, with music created as a form of medicine for healing.

Aphopatra creates immersive experiences that invite audiences into a deeper connection with themselves; using music and sound as tools for reflection, release, and return.

Her work explores themes of love, identity, healing, and inner liberation. Both intimate and expansive, it offers spaces where music becomes more than something you hear, but something you feel, in the body, in the breath, and in the moment.

Hamza Castro

Hamza Castro is a Sudanese musician, composer, singer, and cultural researcher whose practice explores Sudanese musical heritage, cultural memory, identity, and the social role of the arts.

His work brings together musical composition, vocal performance, field research,cultural documentation, oral history, and community-based artistic practice, connecting research and lived experience with contemporary artistic expression.

Through this practice, he documents, preserves, and reinterprets Sudanese musical knowledge while engaging with cultural rights, dialogue, and peacebuilding.

Melina

Melina is a Nairobi-based yoga & movement teacher and handpan musician. Through immersive sound journeys, she creates spacious, meditative experiences shaped by the ethereal resonance of the handpan. Drawing on years of holistic practice, she weaves sound, breath, movement and meditation to invite deep presence and inner stillness.

Hasira Hasara

Hasira Hasara, officially known as Wycee Wagithi is multi-disciplinary artist based in Nairobi Kenya. She is a DJ, multi-instrumentalist, Cultural Practitioner, Researcher and Educator.

As a DJ, Hasira Hasara intentionally blends different genres to create immersive soundscapes that ease the body and soul to trance-like euphoria.

Matt Swallow

Matt Swallow is a Northumbrian singer, producer, and modern-day troubadour, currently splitting his time between the studio and the stage from his off-grid Baobab Studios in Kilifi, Kenya. With a voice forged in the north of England and a rhythm now rooted in the equatorial coast, his artistry is a dialogue between two worlds.

Lavosti

Lavosti is a reggae artist from Kenya.He sings music that inspires gives hope and derives his inspiration from African music and reggae music is one of the the vehicles that he uses to inspire and teach and reach people through instruments and music I'm so honored to be singing at the kisima festival.

Bakari

Finger style guitarist with detail to harmony and melody development; musical trainer and arranger; stage performer who has collaborated with various artists on live performances.

Anariko

Anariko is a Kenyan fingerstyle guitarist, composer and producer, and Yamaha-endorsed multi-instrumentalist blending African rhythms, experimental guitar and contemporary composition. Through intricate fingerstyle, percussive techniques and layered textures, he creates immersive instrumental soundscapes that tell stories without words. At Kisima Festival, he invites audiences into a unique musical experience that pushes the boundaries of the guitar.

Chief Matigari

Cheif Matigari is a Kenyan singer-songwriter, guitarist, music producer and sound engineer pioneering Original Mau Mau Rebel Reggae Music, a distinctly Kenyan sound rooted in the legacy of the Mau Mau freedom fighters. Blending reggae, African roots, folk and hip-hop with Swahili, Sheng, Gikuyu and English, his music carries powerful messages of freedom, love, unity, justice and shared humanity.

A rebel with a cause, Cheif believes true rebellion begins with love and the courage to stand for what is right. Guided by the philosophy of Undugu, the belief in our interconnectedness, he creates music driven by purpose, consciousness and the pursuit of a better world. Whether performing intimate acoustic sets or alongside his five-piece band, Cheif & The Marshalls, he brings an infectious energy and a powerful message to every stage, inspiring audiences to keep moving, grooving and standing together for a brighter future.

Joel Kalama

Joel Kalama is a Kenyan recording artist, music director, producer and educator blending Afro-contemporary sounds, soulful melodies and rich live instrumentation. Known for his powerful vocals and refined harmonies, he has performed at Lake of Stars Festival in Malawi and collaborated with respected East African artists. Through his work with the Sanara Program, Joel nurtures emerging talent while continuing to shape a sound rooted in culture, creativity and musical excellence.

Mambo Brown

Mambo Brown is a Nairobi-based percussionist, singer and storyteller blending traditional African rhythms with contemporary sounds. With nearly a decade of experience, his music is rooted in rhythm, movement and immersive storytelling.

A 2025 perFORM Music Incubator participant and contributor to the Timeless album, Mambo has also toured with Nviiri The Storyteller, continuing to push the boundaries of African musical expression through his vibrant live performances.

People practicing yoga outdoors under a tree in a wooded area. Outdoor wellness kilifi

Our Sponsors and Partners

GREEN HEART KILIFI

Green Heart is a master-planned walkable regenerative town in Kilifi, designed in harmony with nature, supporting a vibrant, productive community.

It is rooted in one founding question: what if we do things a little differently?

This is not a real estate development. It is a co-created land regeneration project driven by strength in community, intentional living, and shared progress.

We have allocated 70% of our land to green space, connecting our walkable urban neighbourhoods through an integrated network of shaded paths, hidden art, and bridges in the forest canopy.

Sponsor

Visit their website

Tribe

Tribe was conceived from a simple belief:that we coexist on a single planet and there is only one Tribe that matters… humankind. The interdependence of today’s societies and the speed at which networks are being built, make it increasingly apparent that unity is the foundation of a dignified, sophisticated and prosperous world community. It is this spirit that governed every stage of Tribe’s development and is central to its operational mission statement.

Visit their website