2,335 entrepreneurs
Vendors and service providers selling to festival crowds since 2014.
Tumaini Festival
Music, dance, poetry, and theatre inside Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi, since 2014.
Main stage, 2024
Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi
230K+
attendees documented since 2014
615
performing acts across editions
25
countries represented by artists
61M+
people reached through media
Our Story
About the festival
Refugees, the Malawian host community, artists, and visitors built a public space for culture inside Dzaleka. This site keeps a record of it.
Founded in 2014 by Congolese poet Menes La Plume, Tumaini (Swahili for “hope”) grew from a camp gathering into one of Malawi's best-known arts events, with music, poetry, theatre, and dance.
It is held each year inside the camp. Entry is free, and camp-based performers share the bill with Malawian and international artists.
Festival History
Year by year
Themes, highlights, performers, and sources for every edition.
Impact
Impact in numbers
Organizers report more than $150,000 in community revenue each year.
1,500 jobs annually
Seasonal work building, running, and securing the festival.
2,000+ beneficiaries
People in around 400 host families earning from the homestay program.
Data note: Figures are as reported by Tumaini Letu, the festival organizer. More on impact.
Program
Open the program
The 2025 program
Search every act across six stages, filter by day, and add sets to your calendar.
Press
In the press
Selected coverage from Malawian and international outlets.
Daily Sabah
Joy, resilience shine at Malawi's Tumaini Festival
Report from the 10th edition in 2024.
Read article
The Guardian
Music festival brings hope to refugees in Malawi
How the festival sets out to change perceptions of refugees.
Read article
Deutsche Welle
Tumaini Festival: Uniting refugees through culture
Video feature on the festival and its founder.
Watch video
Homestay Program
Stay with the community
The Dzaleka Homestay Program lets visitors stay with a host family inside the camp. Payments go to the household.
Contribute
Share your photos
Were you at a past edition? Add your photos and stories to the record.