The 2026 Magical Kenya Mountain and Trail Series, featuring the Taptengelei festival and the fifth edition of the Tinderet Barng’etuny Mountain Run, has officially been launched and is returning to Nandi County.
Presiding over the launch, the Cabinet Secretary for Gender, Culture, and Children Services, Hanna Cheptumo, affirmed that the event acts as the unity factor for the community and the nation.
“This event is indeed a celebration of our rich and diverse cultural heritage, community cohesion, moral values, athletic prowess, collective responsibility, and a renewal among the Kalenjin people,” she added.
“Kenya has unique and diverse tourism offerings.” CS Cheptumo affirmed.
She applauded Magical Kenya for the milestones it has achieved, saying, “The Magical Kenya and trail series has evolved into a significant national platform that combines adventure tourism, competitive athletics, and cultural heritage programming.”
“We are working to ensure that cultural festivals in Kenya are receiving cultural support through policy frameworks, capacity building for cultural practitioners, and funding mechanisms which recognise culture as an economic factor,” she added.
“We are in the process of enacting the National Kiswahili Council Bill, the Culture Bill, and the National Museum and Heritage Act, among others.”
Kenya Tourism Board CEO June Chepkemei affirmed the importance of working with the government.
“When the government works in collaboration with us, we always win the race. We shall package the cultural event nicely and decently and showcase our cultural heritage,” Chepkemei said.
“The Magical Kenya trail series is a product that is helping us position Kenya as a premier destination for adventure, culture, and sports tourism, which is an opportunity to tap into the existing opportunity worth $400B for us to tap.”
The event’s patron, Julius Melly (Tinderet MP), revealed that the winners of the event will walk home rich and the government will splash scholarship programmes for the athletes.
“The sponsors have really done an honourable thing and stood with us in this journey, and the best athlete will walk away with Sh500,000, and the prizes are over 5 million,” Melly stated.
“On the same note, the CS for Education, Ogamba Migos, will also attend the magical series, and he will give out scholarships for TVETs to our athletes.”
This year, the trail series kicks off in January in Taptengelei.
In May, it heads to Nyamira for the Great Trail Run, followed by the Mount Kenya edition in June, the Aberdare Trail in August, Mt Longonot in November, and closes the year with the Elgon Trail in December.
