Steemit Engagement Challenge Week 2 || Share your Country's Culture (Religious or Cultural) || Calabar Festival || Club 100

CALABAR CARNIVAL

Calabar is the capital of Cross River State in the south-eastern part of Nigeria. The people of Calabar are very hospitable and loving. They have numerous rich culture and festivals , in which one of them is the Calabar Carnival.

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The Calabar Carnival in Nigeria is also known as “Africa’s biggest street party” or the “pride of Nigeria”. It is a one month carnival that lasts from December 1 to 31 every year until 2017 when it was slashed to two weeks festival by the newly elected Governor of the state, Benedict Ayade.

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The carnival was declared by the then governor Mr. Donald Duke in 2004 as an activity to mark Christmas celebration and his vision for creating the festivals was to make Cross River a home of tourism and hospitality in Nigeria and Africa at large. Over the years the quality of this festival keeps growing as it has currently become an international festival and Nigeria number one biggest carnival. The carnival has always been a prospect one as different competition takes place with huge cash prices, the carnival has always been a colorful one.

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Foreign nationals attending Calabar Carnival.

The traditional ruler of the state that normally host the festival is known as Obong in Efik language and their cabinets will also participate in this unique cultural carnival.
Traditional title holders and worthy illustrious sons and daughters always partake in the carnival that attracts over two million spectators from various part of the globe who come to watch the great cultural display of this rare kind that is largely covered by so many media industries.

The programme for the carnival is drafted each year by the committee in charge of tourism and cultural activities and newly initiatives are introduced every year with different topics chosen each year to drive the carnival. In December 2009, the carnival committee organized “carnival cup 2009”, a football competition among five competing carnival bands. The festival also includes music performance from both local and international artists, fashion shows, Beauty pageant, traditional dances and the annual Ekpe festival.

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Other activities that make up this carnival include an essay writing competition which involves both secondary school and tertiary institution students. These competitions are designed to promote reading culture among the youths of the state as well as inculcating the carnival culture. Different activities every day This carnival yearly event brings in thousands of tourist in Nigeria.

The major carnival event usually starts in the last two weeks of the Calabar carnival. The carnival is been separated into four parts which includes the following:

1st – 10th December is the Millennium Week

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12th – 17th December is the Sports Week.

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19th -24th December is the TINAPA Family Festival, 25th -31st December is the Carnival Week

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The Calabar carnival festival kicks off officially with a tree-lightening ceremony. The first three weeks of the event, will be musical entertainment, street parties, art shows, food competitions, an esteemed essay writing competition, masque events and traditional dances.

The carnival hosts local and international musicians, Nollywood actors and actresses, politicians and other notable men and women from Nigeria and abroad. Some of the entertainers who have attended the carnival include Lucky Dube, Akon, Fat Joe, Young Jeezy, Nelly, Kirk Franklin and many others.

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Nollywood celebrity in attendance in Calabar Carnival.

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Akon performing in Calabar Carnival.

There are different theme each year for the carnival. The theme for the carnival 2015 was “Climate change”, in 2017 the theme was “Migration”, “Africanism” was the theme for 2018 and 2019 was “Humanity”. There was no carnival in 2020 and 2021 due to the corona virus pandemic but the exciting thing is that there will be Calabar festival in 2022.

I hope you all enjoy reading my post on Calabar Carnival.