The Lagos State Government and the Culinary Arts Professionals Association (CAPA) have announced that the 2022 Lagos Food Festival will feature Nigerian and other African foods.
The competition for the best “Jollof rice” among Nigeria and other African nations will also be part of the festival.
At a press conference to introduce the initiative at the Good Beach, Oniru, on Friday in Lagos, the state commissioner for agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, said this.
The celebration, according to Olusanya, will take place on December 11 at Victoria Island’s Muri Okunola Park.
The theme of this year’s Lagos Food Festival is “A taste of Africa.”
She predicted that this year’s edition will draw chefs from Lagos, Nigeria, and other African nations who would make regional and global cuisines.
According to Olusanya, the 2022 iteration of the Lagos Food Festival would focus on highlighting the culture and Lagos State’s distinctiveness as a state of aquatic splendour.
According to her, the 2021 edition saw over N25 million in transactions and roughly 7,500 participants.
She said that the festival would not only give people in the different food chains a chance to talk to customers and get feedback, but it would also bring attention to the ecosystem that Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu is trying to build.
“The festival will feature the jollof rice war between Nigeria and other African countries.
“The festival will provide enabling environment for residents to generally have fun and relax with family and friends as the Yuletide approaches.
“It will also stimulate local and foreign investor interest in the food business,” she said.
Olusanya pointed out that the Lagos Food Festival was a spinoff of the yearly seafood festival, which was held to highlight different kinds of seafood with fun activities for locals.
According to the commissioner, the programme would generate both direct and indirect employment for SMEs, artisans, and value chain participants.
Olusanya reassured attendees that the culinary festival will be fun, instructive, and thrilling. She also said that it would make a lasting impression on participants and visitors.
“The festival is open to the general public to attend with their children and wards to enjoy entertainment, the biggest fish auction, musical performances, games corner and seafood pavilion.
“Other activities are culinary competitions with celebrity chefs, as well as family cooking competitions among others.
She exhorted locals to turn out in droves to take in the best of the arts, culinary skills, games, music, networking, and way of life.
Vice President of the Culinary Arts Professional Association, Chef Gbolabo Adebakin, stated that the organisation was pleased to collaborate with the Lagos State Government to promote Nigerian and African cuisines.
Adebakin stated that in addition to what he referred to as “the African Dining experience” during the event, an Afro-fusion menu of native food to Lagos State would be curated.
Dr. Rotimi Fashola, the governor’s special adviser on the rice initiative, invited locals to attend the festival in big numbers with friends and family to have fun and sample the greatest foods.
