Ten or more nations are anticipated to take part in the 2022 Annual Calabar Carnival, according to Mr. Eric Anderson, Cross River’s commissioner for culture and tourism development.
In an interview with newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja, Anderson made this known.
The carnival is scheduled to be held from December 1 to December 31, 2022, following a two-year hiatus brought on by the coronavirus outbreak, according to him.
The commissioner added that 20 states of Nigeria have so far expressed interest in taking part in the carnival.
The event, according to him, will include a variety of musical performances, stage shows, award presentations, choreography, music, power week, bikers’ day, beauty pageants, street parties, beach soccer, and old-school parties, among other things.
He added that Mercy Chinwo, Joe Praize, Jimmy D Psalmist, Moses Bliss, local based artist, various choir bands have also beem slated to perform at the event.
“For two years, there was a global issue that did not allow events across International lines to take place and for us we are resuming as most big events around the world had their carnival a few month ago.
“Cross River is Nigeria’s tourism destination, so we are ready with exciting events from Dec. 1 to Dec. 31.
“For the last two years we did not hold the carnival, we had to sit back and review and look at ways to up the game.
“One of the aspect we realised is that we had a lot of people that want to be revellers in our carnival bands and so the size increased.
“So we had to create two more bands from the five bands we had to make it seven, so for this year we will be having seven bands to be competing,” he said.
The commissioner continued by saying that sufficient security measures had been implemented to guarantee the safety of participants and outside visitors to the state.
“I can tell you for a fact that we have proper security on ground, I say this on very good authority because I am also part of the team that went round on courtesy call to all the security heads in Cross River.
“On our first dry run which held in October, we had all the heads of those arms participating in it and they have given their full commitment.
“Though we have pockets of insecurity issues around the country, but we will try our best to secure the state, the event venues, our routes and our people as much as we can,” he added.
The carnival, currently celebrated yearly and referred to as “Nigeria’s largest street celebration,” is a relatively recent addition to Nigeria’s annual festival calendar, having started in 2006.
The carnival was established by Donald Duke, the former governor of Cross River, as an annual event to commemorate Christmas. It takes place in December.
Over the years, the event’s calibre has improved, making it Nigeria’s largest carnival and a celebration with a global reputation.
