Calabar Festival

 

The Calabar Carnival has come a long way..it all started 2004, when the governor of Cross River State, Mr Donald Duke, had a vision of making his state the hub for tourism and hospitality in Nigeria and in Africa. The Carnival presents a perfect platform from brand visibility for consumer and market awareness. "According to Osima-Dokubo, the carnival aimed to include more aspects of local heritage and culture and at the same time strengthen the capacity of the locals to participate in an economically beneficial way", Recently, Cross River State and Calabar has become the pride of Nigeria or Africa as far as tourism, carnivals and hospitality is concer

The programme of the event at the carnival are drafted each year by the committee in charge of tourism and cultural activities and new initiatives are introduced every year. In December 2009, Carnival Committee organized "Carnival Cup 2009", a football competition amongst the five competing carnival bands - Seagull, Passion 4, Masta Blasta, Bayside and Freedom. The Festival which also include music performance from both local and international artists, the annual Calabar Carnival, Boat regatta, Fashion shows, Christmas Village, traditional dances and the annual Ekpe Festival is a yearly events that bring in thousands of tourists at the time of the year.

 

 

Other activities lined up for the year according to their work plan, include the second edition of Essay Writing Competition which will involve both secondary school and tertiary students, and this will commence in few weeks. These competitions are aimed at resuscitating the reading culture amongst the youths of the State as well as inculcating the carnival culture.

The event has hosted top Nigerian musicians, Nollywood Actors, Politicians and international artists. Over the last 4 years international artists like, the late Lucky Dube, Akon, Fat Joe, Young Jeezy, Nelly, Kirk Franklin, and many more has thrilled the large crowd of Nigerians and tourist from outside the country. Due to large crowd and fans that Nigerians artist carries, 2014 Calabar Carnival would focus on Nigerian and Foreign artist

 

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The Festival of Light

Light at the end of the tunnel’ is a familiar idiom. However, during the December festive period in Lagos state, we do not have to wait to get to the end of the tunnel before we see the light because the light is at the entrance illuminating the tunnel. The lightning effect, the blaze of colours, the razzmatazz and the synchronised spectacle in its grandiloquence typifies the festival of lights.
 

 

 

The Festival of Light event is a pre- Lagos Countdown event which started in 2012, it is organised by the Lagos Countdown Government and supervised by Lagos Countdown Signage and Advertisements Agency (LASAA) in conjunction with the Lagos State Electricity Board. The Lagos Countdown begins when the Lagos Countdown Governor, Babatunde Fashola officially “switches on” the Lagos Festival of Lights, heralding the holiday season with thousands of decorative lights from the entire stretch of the Marina through Ahmadu Bello Way to Bar Beach. In 2012, the Festival of Lights train rode in the Open roofed Eko Tourist Bus from Marina through the stretch to Ahmadu Bello Way to the cheers and colourful displays of several groups who dotted the road, arriving at the Akin Adesola junction of the Bar Beach which had been a centre point of a carnival like celebration to usher in the holiday season programme. Lagos is again set to play host to a world class cross over festival. One thing that keeps reverberating in these activities is the desire to etch Lagos credential of being a tourist centre among the upper echelon tourist zones. According to Gov. Fashola, the Lagos Countdown“ means much more tourism exposure” coming along with “investment, opportunities and possibilities”. Corroborating the State Governor’s stand, Managing Director of Lagos State Signage and Advertisements Agency (LASAA), Mr George Noah said: “the strategic intent for hosting the event is to put Lagos on the global tourism map in the league of cities as New York, London, Sydney, Paris, Los Angeles and other major destinations that will be commemorating the cross over”. This year promises to be better than last year’s celebration and as Mr Noah puts it: “It would be a new year unlike any before, as we will be celebrating in Lagos with the whole of the world participating with us”.

 

                                                                                                                                                                       

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Eyo Festival

The word "Eyo" also refers to as the costumed dancers, known as the masquerades that come out during the festival. The origins of this observance are found in the inner workings of the secret societies of Lagos. It is widely believed that the play is one of the manifestations of the customary African revelry that serves as the forerunner of the modern carnival in Brazil. On Eyo Day, the main highway in the heart of the city (from the end of Carter Bridge to Tinubu Square, Lagos, Nigeria.) is closed to traffic, allowing for procession from Idumota to the Iga Idunganran palace. The white-clad Eyo masquerades represent the spirits of the dead, and are referred to in Yoruba as "agogoro Eyo" (literally: "tall Eyo"). An Eyo Iga Olowe Salaye masquerade jumping.

The first procession in Lagos was on the 20th of February, 1854, to commemorate the life of the Oba Akintoye.

Here, the participants all pay homage to the reigning Oba of Lagos. The festival takes place whenever occasion and tradition demand, though it is usually held as part of the final burial rites of a highly regarded chief in the king's court.

Among the Yorubas, the indigenous religions have largely lost the greater majority of their traditional followers to Christianity and Islam. Be that as it may, the old festivals are still almost universally observed. It is during these occasions that their traditional monarchs and nobles exercise the most of their residual power.