Last weekend I found myself surrounded by Rwandan beer wenches, in full costume, peddling Mutzig (Rwanda’s faux German brew) to hundreds of drunken locals and expats dancing badly to live music interspersed with ABBA tunes. It was awesome.
For $10 we got food which I never ate but that looked really tasty (one friend was following trays of raw chicken around all night to make sure he got his freshly barbecued pieces), unlimited cold beer, an amazing setting atop a mountain, a fantasticly grassy outdoor dance floor and an all-round world class event that I will return to again and again if I’m in the area.
One thing that made this event really fun for me was how many people I knew there, and I don’t actually even know that many people yet. Kigali is a super small city and there’s a small expat scene with everyone seemingly hanging out in the same cafes, going to the same parties and many, of course, heading to Beerfest. Getting stuck in the expat bubble is something I wanted to avoid when I first arrived but now I’m like – screw it! – it’s fun. I’ve mentioned it before but expats here seem to be doing really interesting things and I’m not really that easily impressed. I love talking to most of the people I meet here.
But back to Beerfest. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting such a smoothly run event. It started off civilised and deteriorated nicely over the hours as more and more people arrived and more and more Mutzig was consumed. The toilet situation was an issue, as a friend of mine wrote exclusively about over on her blog. It’s true, I have no shame.
The setup was amazing up high on a hill but the traffic jam on the way out wasn’t quite as appealing. Most of us just hopped in random cars or in the back of pickup trucks rather than waiting on the free shuttle bus that was put on to take people back to town. I was obviously super impressed with the whole event. It was really fun and I’d honestly plan another trip to Rwanda around it. It was such a good night.
Be there! Beerfest, Rwanda style, 2011!
Lots of beer + good music = awesome festival. For sure it was a drunken fest! Great event Kirsty!
Low-crawl and log-roll. I see your HODR training has come in useful!
Sounds like you had a lot of fun, wish I could have been there.
- Robert
Fun gives u a energy and refreshment, Beer time dude..
It’s Party Time, Enjoy the party whole night..
Keep Cheers
David, you may want to change that log-roll to combat-roll. She was facing off against an armed foe. You are one crazy woman, Kirsty. I love it!
So let me get this right. You run a family of websites for a living. On one of these sites, you publish a post about a beerfest. You are a professional, so of course, you have to take in the whole experience to best inform your readers. Isn’t that the same as getting paid to party? Oh, I’m so jealous.
Seriously, you are an inspiration for many people who are tired of working for “for the man(or woman for the PC)” . You show that it can be done. You can choose an alternate path. You contribute to society with your volunteer work. You are a brand ambassador for Canada and the rest of the Western world , if you will. You spread you joy and goodwill.
I love the mix of story telling and the business side of your experiences on this site. Well done!
@david You know it! haha
@don Haha… but I was facing off with a disarming hug! Impossible to resist. Ya… if I kept the receipts I’m sure I could have claimed it on my taxes. If I wasn’t me, I would hate me. Glad you like my site! Thanks for sticking around and for the kind words!
Wow, let me join the party. Haha!
Good deal Kirsty, perhaps for the next time you go to these events, would be pretty awesome to capture some video for us and put it up on youtube… you can promote your site and have some really cool content to share with us!
Till then,
Jean
On the expat bubble front I think it is inevitable that people end up hanging out with their own, you need only look at backpackers too and how many end up with other English speakers / scandinavians etc
Seems like you really enjoyed the party
Yeah, it would be good to post more pictures as well.
Kirsty – it’s good to cut loose once in a while. You seem to have a knack for finding the best parties. Maybe you should write a party guidebook? I’d buy it!
it sounds like fun, were you there the whole night? and what were you guys celebrating
I wish I could travel as much as you can. That would be so awesome.
beer and Rwanda – two of my favorites!
That sounds awesome. I love festivals. I moved away from my hometown where they had a lot. I have been missing that whole scene a lot lately.
Sounds like a good time. The photo is priceless too. You can tell the guy in the front has a beef with the drunken guy reaching over him to try to get his beer filled first. You do live an enviable lifestyle Kirsty. Many people would love to do what you do, but it’s easier said than done. I agree with the comment above about video. An occasional video clip would be awesome to get a real feel for all of these places you visit.
sounds like a lot of fun – i’d love to see more photos of the event if you have them.
That sounds like an incredibly atmosphere for a party. I’d loved to have been there for sure, not least since I love ABBA’s music.
You deserve this kind of fun after all the good work you do to help others, so live it up.
Its seems party was very rocking , I missed such party now a days
Its seems party was very rocking , I missed such party now a days
Next time you do this holiday, please take more pictures and post them on Flickr or somewhere that we can see. I love to look at pictures from travel blogs so much. I would love to see what the party looked like, and of course the taste, but I’d settle for just a few more pics.