Northern Uganda, newly branded the Walk Region, made a powerful statement in Kampala yesterday during the Uganda One Festival at Kololo Grounds.
It gathered cultural leaders, creatives, investors, and government officials to spotlight unity, resilience, and economic promise from northern communities across the country.
The festival featured music, fashion, art, and storytelling, projecting rebranded regional identity while celebrating national diversity and shared heritage on Kampala’s stage.
Organizers said the Walk Region brand amplifies reconciliation narratives, tourism potential, and youth opportunity after decades of conflict in northern Uganda’s recovery.
Attention peaked as President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was expected to officiate a symbolic handover supporting creatives nationwide at Kololo Grounds yesterday, evening.
The dummy cheque, valued at twenty eight billion shillings, signals substantial government backing for arts, innovation, and livelihoods across Uganda’s creative economy.
Officials emphasized transparent distribution mechanisms, capacity building, and market access to ensure sustainable impact for beneficiaries within diverse disciplines, regions, and communities.
Creative sector representatives welcomed the pledge, urging timely disbursement, mentorship programs, and infrastructure investment beyond headline announcements to sustain growth, jobs, nationwide.
Northern leaders said visibility at Kololo countered stereotypes, positioning the Walk Region as collaborative, investable, and forward looking within Uganda’s cultural economy.
Security, logistics, and attendance reflected strong coordination, with crowds engaging performances peacefully throughout the day under clear weather, orderly management, and safety.
Analysts noted the festival aligns with national strategies prioritizing creative industries as engines of inclusive growth employment, exports, tourism, identity, unity, recovery.
As celebrations concluded, participants expressed optimism that sustained partnerships will translate symbolism into tangible opportunities for artists, youth, regions, communities, livelihoods, nationwide.
