The biggest cultural carnival in the history of Nigeria’s South West, the Osun Carnival, is to hold in December 2017.
In a statement released in Lagos on Wednesday, the organizers of the project said it is an initiative that aims to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba race, adopting Osun State as base.
Osun Carnival is an initiative of a private tourism and cultural promotion organization, Lekmog Projects, in collaboration with the State of Osun Ministry of Tourism and the Royal Palace of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II.
Royal Planet Media and Cream Entertainment are the official producer/promoter of the show, the organizers said.
The week-long event, which will take place in two major cities -Osogbo and Ile Ife, will feature a colourful display of drums, Yoruba songs and poetic renditions, dance, best display of traditional attires and food, traditional games such as Ayo Olopon, quiz competition in Yoruba for school pupils, beauty pageant, visit to heritage sites in Osun State, musical concert, street parade and many more.
The statement added: “We are aware of the cultural gap that exists between the old and upcoming generations of the race that has the best of cultural values in the world, the Yoruba race. It is important that we do our bit in bridging this gap by bringing to the fore some of these best values in an atmosphere of fun (carnival) where the youth can socialise and learn something new about the Yoruba culture and tradition. It is just befitting for us to look inward to the source and origin of the Yoruba race which the State of Osun represents, to start such a cultural reawakening campaign and the Arole Oduduwa himself Oba Enitan Ogunwusi has given his blessings to the initiative. We are expecting participants from all the South West states and visitors from all over Nigeria, Africa and other parts of the world where the Yoruba culture is well appreciated.”
Apart from promoting the cultural values of the Yoruba, the carnival is also an initiative to promote the tourism potentials of Osun State and by extension the entire South West by packaging and providing adequate information about all the heritage sites, some of which are already forgotten, which are available in those states.
A major part of the maiden Osun Carnival will be a special visit to some of the heritage sites scattered all around the State.
The organizers added: “The ultimate aim is to attract regular visitors and investors to these sites while also contributing to the growth of small and medium scale enterprises that will service such visitors. The carnival is going to be an annual Yoruba cultural melting pot.”