2
Lamu hosted the inaugural Swahili Sports Storytelling Festival on January 20, 2025—elders, athletes, and youth sharing oral histories of sport, from pre-colonial wrestling to Olympic glory. Over 3 days, 80 storytellers performed in *utenzi* (poetic verse) and prose; recordings archived at McMillan Library. Before cameras, we had memory—and rhythm, said master storyteller Fatuma Ali. UNESCO funded transcription and translation. The festival is now annual, rotating among Lamu, Mombasa, and Malindi. A podcast series, *Sauti za Stadi*, launched on Spotify.