Jinja hosts week-long colouring adventure

A three-course meal ends with a dessert and after the “heavy duty” Nyege Nyege Festival, the arts creatives in Jinja could not have thought better than something to detox the post-exhilarated revellers with a funny event – a dessert.

The Jinja Adventure Week is that dessert. It is a week-long adventure-packed event, where almost everything goes, from omweso (board game) here, camping there, a run this way, and even ffene. Yes, you got that right, ffene. Jack fruit. Everything is going into the package.

But how is ffene going to fit in a basket of supposed “adventure week”? Sounds weird, huh? According to Anthony Jermaine, one of the organisers of the Jinja Adventure Week, there will be different stages for a range of services; from eats and drinks, games and hospitality, to camping and a music festival.

The organisers found the touché in adding ffene to the mix and if that will not be an equivalent of detoxing the Nyege Nyege binge from a fortnight ago, what would you say?

For many adventurers though, there is nothing to say; there is everything to enjoy in this weeklong event that will climax with the Jinja Colour Run on Independence Day.

Deals on offer

The week will see discounted deals on outdoor adventure such as rafting, bungee jumping, kayaking and quad biking alongside curated events such as a 5km colour fun run, poetry sessions, street performances and a third edition music festival, among others.

The organisers say they have already inked partnership with more than 100 local businesses and service providers, including boda boda operators, to get adventurers “never-before deals” during what is expected to be like a Black Friday in October.

 “Jinja Adventure Week is bringing everything together – from live performances, exhibitions, culture, accommodation, food and drink, recreation, and more – so that you can have a once-in-a-lifetime experience in ‘Adventure Capital of East Africa,” Jermaine said.The Jinja Adventure Week is running with seven spaces and although you will not find ffene openly listed, the smell of that fruit will surely find its way inside your nostril when you notice that of the seven spaces serving the revellers is the Food Court for cuisine.

The Source of the Nile is serving as the main stage, Ebintu Place as the marketplace, The Lab as a tech area, On Display as a live art area, Game Stage for all manner of playfulness and The Beat as an electronic stage.

From the seven stages, one is guaranteed adventure, multicultural cuisine reflecting Jinja’s cosmopolitan status, historical landmarks and the nightlife of what a city has been dawdling between the riveting and downright sleepy.

Jinja has many things to boast about; adventure, international cuisine, landmarks and nightlife. And now this one-of-a-kind City finally has a one-of-a-kind event to bring together everything it has to offer into one fantastic opportunity to experience it all.

“For a city like Jinja, a single event happening on one day out of the year is not enough to showcase its best features,” Jermaine added.

Access and package

He says basic access to the event revolves around having an “Adventure Pass” ; a wristband that gives access to all the discounts available from all participating merchants in the Jinja Adventure Week.

All one has to do is to show up wearing an adventure pass and they will get the listed discount. The pass is going for Shs15,000, but the Jinja Colour Run will take adventurous back by Shs50,000 – good enough it is inclusive of adventure pass, access to Stone Fest, a three-day lifestyle festival.

At least 40 local artistes, including Sandra K, aka Busoga Princess, a host of them from Busoga such as Timothy Kirya and Rahma Naigaga, have been lined up to entertain revelers during the Independence weekend.

 Get soaked in paint

The Colour Run was founded in March 2011 to promote a healthy lifestyle and happiness by bringing the community together to participate in what has become its moniker, the “Happiest 5k on the Planet.”

The run is a unique paint race that celebrates healthiness, happiness, and individuality. Now the single largest event series in the world, The Colour Run has more than tripled its growth, hosting more than 225 events in more than 50 countries around the world.

The Jinja Color Run on Independence Day will see adventurers given a colour kit which includes a 100g sachet of colour, race bib, and a bottle of mineral water – and an official T-shirt at a fee.

Under the Jinja Is Calling label, the colour run is being billed as the ultimate way to celebrate independence with friends, family, and the rest of Uganda.

Dousing in colour

They say colour is only beautiful when it means something and beyond family fun, there is romance in the colour. For the most part over the last three editions of the Jinja Colour Run before the Covid-19 pandemic disruptions, the event has seen lovers turn their colour on.

Making colourful love, it is common to find lovebirds dousing themselves in paint, ultimately living the fun like they are colouring their love.

The Jinja Colour Run will see a 5km fun run where you can ride, skate, walk, skip, or jog to the finish line and get doused with a different colour every 1km.