Carnival Calabar: A Must-See Nigerian Street Festival

Carnival Calabar is most definitely a must see Nigerian street festival. Known as ‘Africa’s biggest street party’ is an annual celebration which focuses on African heritage – music, drama, dance and colourful display of costumes and makeup.

In my travels to countries I have been to a few street festivals in my time the last being the Notting Hill Street carnival in London, but none of them in my opinion reach the pomp and splendour of the Calabar Festival. For Nigeria and western and sub Saharan Africa this festival is really in a league of its own. When you consider that over 4.2 million people attend this 32 day spectacle it’s hard to not have high hopes for the future of the Nigerian tourism industry.

A little background history on the festival

In 2004 the then state governor Donald Duke had a dream and a vision to make Calabar the tourism place of choice for Nigerians and people all over West Africa and beyond. His dream centred on boosting the tourism industry in Nigeria with Calabar at the epi centre of this grand vision.

Each year the festival goes from strength to strength and this years carnival is pegged to be the best ever according to the former state governor Mr. Duke whose dream is getting closer and closer to becoming a reality.

Why you should visit Calabar during the festival

Every year this spectacular festival features a very popular international artist. In the past we have seen the likes of Shaggy and Akon grace the city of Calabar at festival time. This year it’s going to be world famous American singer Rihanna performing in December.

On 27 December 2016, we saw top Nigerian performers such as TuFace, Davido and Sound Skales to mention a few. Performing year we will see Timidakolo, Mafikizolo, PSquare, Sean Paul, D’banj, Iyanya,  Flavour, Mavin, TuFace and more.

Tips on getting through this fantastic festival in one peace

The festival is a 32 day affair running from the 1st to 31st of December so for some this may end up being a real test for endurance more than anything else. If you are one of those whose only exercise consists of walking to the car or lifting a beer can from out of the fridge you are going to need to pace yourself.

Be prepared for a lot of walking; this is a month long street festival not a 90 minute sit down committee meeting. Make sure you have appropriate footwear, no steel caps, no high heels or you will find your feet in excruciating pain at the end of the day.