Kivu Beach Expo and Festival Highlights Rutsiro As an Investment and Touristic Hub

By Doreen Karungi

The event, which took place in the Boneza sector of the Rutsiro district, perfectly featured the potential of the district in developing tourism, art, sports, and the blue economy related to Lake Kivu.

This forum brought together various players such as local authority representatives, the private sector, youths, and communities with the goal of celebrating and harnessing natural resources, the cultural heritage, and uniqueness of Rutsiro District. This became a very important platform to show the potential of bringing people together to achieve development in the district.

Organized by Yirunga Ltd, Kivu Beach Expo & Festival included a lot of activities like beach and water sports like triathlon, beach volleyball, swimming, and badminton games. In addition to this, there were traditional games and performances meant to entertain a great number of people.

In similar remarks, the Managing Director of Yirunga Ltd, Iyaremye Yves, attributed the success of the festival to the good cooperation between the organizers and the Rutsiro district.

“Working together with the district authority made it possible for us to record such excellent results. We were warmly received, and this showed that Rutsiro has the capacity to host big tourism and entertainment events,” he said.

On behalf of the district, Rutsiro District Mayor Kayitesi Dative said that Kivu Beach Expo & Festival was a very effective platform to promote the scenery of the district in general, as well as Lake Kivu shores, hotels, business activities, crafts, and creative ideas of the youth.

“This festival has given us an opportunity to prove that Rutsiro has great investment opportunities and development prospects in terms of tourism,” she says

Based on the positive results obtained from the event, the Rutsiro District authority has plans to institutionalize the Kivu Beach Expo & Festival through incorporating the event into the development agenda of the district in collaboration with the government, businesses, and other organizations in the society.

The festival took place between December 9th and 15th, 2025. This left Rutsiro with a new image of being one of the destination places for cultural tourism and conserving the environment.

The journey to the festival took place in the Rubavu district and ended at Rutsiro, where the locals showed a high level of dedication to embracing partners’ initiatives.The uniqueness of the festival was exhibited by the aspect that it was not a mere expo but a blend of sport, entertainment, and tourism to unite the youths, visitors, and citizens in regard to the role played by sports in boosting tourism activities.

Within the entertainment industry, popular artists performed at the concerts that took place at Palega Beach Inn. On the day that had the renowned performer Theo Bosebabireba, an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 fans showed up, thus highlighting the impact that Rwandan music had on the development of tourism. As a way of appreciating its role in local development, the Kivu Beach Expo & Festival has been cited among the key development projects undertaken by Rutsiro. Iyamuremye Yves added, “Other activities will continue to grow and will also be developed in order to make their effectiveness greater.”