All activities / Music & Culture Festivals / Nkhotakota
Music & Culture Festivals in Nkhotakota
Lake of Stars
A lakeshore town on the central coast of Lake Malawi, a former Swahili-Arab trading post, and since 2026 again the beachside home of the Lake of Stars arts festival at nearby Fish Eagle Bay.
Run by Lake of Stars, with published dates and a real program.
Dates & details verified against: Official event site ↗
Why here
Lake of Stars is Malawi's window on the wider musical world. Founded in 2004, the festival sets up for three days each year on a beach on the shore of Lake Malawi and fills them with live bands, DJs, amapiano and afrobeats, jazz, poetry, film and fashion, pulling artists from across Africa alongside Malawian names. The setting is the draw as much as the line-up: a stage on the sand, the lake at your back, dancing that runs from afternoon into the night. Over two decades it has become one of the continent's best-known cultural gatherings, and it puts its profits back into Malawian creative and community projects. The 2026 edition returns to Nkhotakota from 2 to 4 October.
Best months
The festival runs across three days and nights in early October, in the dry season when the lakeshore is warm and rainless. Camping and lodge options cluster around the site, and the programme runs from daytime workshops into late-night sets. Tickets are sold ahead in tiers, with the early-bird rounds the cheapest.
Getting there & around
The 2026 festival is at Fish Eagle Bay near Nkhotakota, on the central lakeshore, roughly three to four hours by road from Lilongwe. Most festival-goers camp on site or take rooms at nearby lodges and arrange shared transfers. Buy tickets and book beds well ahead, as capacity is limited. Bring cash for the site.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
Lake of Stars
OrganizerLake of Stars is a Malawian arts festival founded in 2004 that stages three days of music, DJs, poetry, film and fashion on the shore of Lake Malawi each year, drawing artists from across Africa and beyond. The 2026 edition runs from 2 to 4 October at Fish Eagle Bay near Nkhotakota. Over two decades it has become one of the continent's best-known cultural gatherings, and it channels its profits into Malawian creative and community projects.