Kisumu City came alive on Saturday as the central business district was transformed into a motorsport arena, with hundreds of residents and visitors thronging the Central Square for the city’s first-ever drift show.
The high-octane event, held as part of the Kisumu End of Year Festival, marked the debut of organised city drifting in the lakeside city and underscored the county’s push to diversify its tourism offerings beyond traditional attractions along Lake Victoria.
The drift show was organised through a partnership between the City of Kisumu, the County Department of Trade and Tourism and Al-Husnain Motors, drawing enthusiastic crowds who lined the streets to watch skilled drivers perform precision manoeuvres around the city centre.
Kisumu County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Trade and Tourism Farida Salim said the event had exceeded expectations, despite initial doubts about introducing motorsport to the city.
“When we were discussing introducing this for the first time, there was a lot of uncertainty because when you venture into something that has not been there, it is not easy to convince people,” she said.
“But having seen the excitement on the faces of our people, it is clear that the public has embraced it,” she added.
She said the county now plans to make the drift show an annual event and expand partnerships with private sector players to position Kisumu as a hub for lifestyle and experiential tourism.
The successful turnout, she said, signalled growing appetite for sports and entertainment tourism, as Kisumu seeks to position itself as a regional destination for festivals, motorsport and urban cultural experiences.
“We look forward to enhancing this partnership and bringing more partners on board so that we make this an annual festival here in Kisumu,” she said, describing the drift show as a new tourism product for the city.
Salim added that the county was steadily rolling out alternative tourism experiences, citing the recent introduction of tree therapy in Seme Sub-county during Tourism Week.
She said the county was also exploring the possibility of introducing skydiving in Kisumu after benchmarking with Diani.
“Top on our agenda as we enter the new year is to explore skydiving. Once we benchmark, we will consider bringing it to Kisumu, just as we have introduced the drift show,” she said, calling on the media to partner with the county in promoting emerging tourism products.
Drivers from the Krama East Africa Drifter Team, who headlined the event, said the show was aimed at exposing residents to motorsport culture while showcasing Kisumu as a vibrant urban destination.
“When people see us drifting around the roundabout, they are very happy because many have never seen what drifting and motorsport is,” said Jim Lu of Krama East Africa.
“We came to show people how good Kisumu is and how exciting drifting can be,” he added.
By Chris Mahandara
