The Lamu waterfront. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Wei Tong]

Intoxicated by the balmy sea breeze, I was rambling along the Lamu's waterfront, where the dhow race, an important part of the annual Lamu Cultural Festival, was kicking off on the sea facing the island. Dhow, a traditional Swahili-style seafaring vessel, used to serve as a basic sailing vessel for trade between East Africa and Arabia in the 17th century. It's still widely used within the region today.

Kenyan Minister for Tourism Najib Balala hails the Lamu Cultural Festival as a platform on which a wealth of the unique Swahili cultures can be well preserved and handed down from generation to generation.

"Lamu Cultural Festival is a meltdown of different nations and different cultures. So here we have the uniqueness and it is a live culture which is not just a monument, so we want to develop and preserve it further. We know there is pressure of development coming to this region. We want the debate to be open and to balance. We will be respected other people when we strike a balance between cultural preservation and development", says Balala.

Balala says the cultural festival, since its inception in 2001, has indeed boosted the tourism industry of the ancient town, which receives about 20,000 local and international tourists every year, compared to only 3,000 before the festival was launched.