DAR ES SALAAM – TANZANIA authorities said plans are underway to launch Maasai Festival aimed at promoting internal tourism by showcasing Maasai cultural norms and values.
Saidi Rukemo, the coordinator of the Maasai Festival to be launched in August 2023, said the festival will showcase Maasai’s cultural dressing, dance, cooking, and various customs.
“The festival will also open up doors for international tourists to come and experience Tanzania,” he told a joint news conference in Tanzania’s northern tourist city of Arusha late Friday.
Rukemo said the Maasai tribe has a peculiar way of life that has been maintained to preserve their norms and culture.
“The Maasai tribe has proved that even with technological advancements, it is still possible to hold onto who we are as Africans,” said Rukemo.
He added that the Maasai tribe has been able to maintain their dressing style, eating habits, security system, traditional medical practices, and living among wild animals.
Pauline Gekul, the deputy minister for Culture, Arts and Sports, said her ministry and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism have embarked on the promotion of cultural festivals to showcase Tanzania’s cultural diversity to the world.
Pindi Chana, the minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, said a total of 76 cultural tourism programs have been established in the northern, southern and Lake Victoria zones.
Chana said the cultural tourism programs are intended to preserve and promote Tanzanian tribes’ traditional norms, food and dressing.
– Xinhua News