Kenyans will have the opportunity to showcase as well as indulge in delicacies from all corners of the country at a cuisine festival in Nairobi this weekend.

Pamela Muyeshi, a director of an exclusive Western cuisine hotel, will host the festival in conjunction with the Department of Culture in the Ministry of National Heritage.

"This will be a forum to sensitise the public on the nutritious, medicinal and commercial value of traditional foods," said Ms Muyeshi.

The event will also be useful in promoting a healthy lifestyle. The forum targets ways of reviving interest in and appreciation of traditional foods as well as to promote and preserve the delicacies for cultural identity and pride.

Expert cooks will offer classes on how to prepare the foods to benefit those who do not know how to prepare them.

This initiative comes on the backdrop of increasing concerns that the prevalence of lifestyle diseases such as high blood pressure or heart attacks associated with junk foods were reaching worrying levels.

The influence of Western culture and urbanisation has laid a platform for a majority of Kenyans to drift away from eating quality nutritious indigenous foods to fast foods.

"The falling interest in the traditional foods can be attributed to either lack of knowledge on how they are prepared or a misconception among many people that these foods involve tedious preparation procedures," said Ms Muyeshi.

The event will be at China Place on Nairobi's Ngong Road.