Leisure 

Monday, March 31, 2014 

Francophone Festival displays various cultures

A group of Burundi drummers during the francophone week in Uganda

KAMAPALA,UGANDA - the just concluded Francophone week managed to gather hundreds of French-speaking people turned who all turned up to celebrate the Francophone Day that commenced on the 15th at Alliance Française Gardens, Nakasero, and ended on the 23rd at Aga Khan primary school.

Among the activities included debates, concerts, festivals, interactions and meetings in which different French speaking school children around Uganda participated in the glamorous activities.

The ambassador of France to Uganda Sophie Makame said that this was a period that was aimed at promoting further the French language and Francophone cultures in Uganda.

Performances artistes and traditional dances from Rwanda and Burundi, Democratic Republic of Uganda and Senegal climaxed the events

Since 1970, each year, during the month of March, 70 nations and over 870 million French-speaking people from the five continents, mark the International Francophone Day to celebrate their language and culture. 

These festivities commemorate the common bond among communities that share the French language. In Uganda, celebrations started with a week-long Francophone film festival which ran from March 10-13 at Cineplex Cinema. 

The climax of the celebrations, La Francophone celebrations, as they are referred to in French, were performances by different choirs on stage, student debates, open discussions, quizzes, poem recitals and presentation of theatre plays, songs and drama. 

By Winnie Mandela, Monday, March 31st, 2014