If there’s one thing Nigeria is commonly known for the world over, it is our diverse culture; and one of them is the African drum festival, formerly known as the Nigerian drum festival…and just like every other cultural festival, the drum festival encourages Nigerians to explore their heritage and celebrate their cultural diversity by gathering with drummers from every part of the country. Below are 7 things you need to know about the African drum festival.
1. The Maiden Edition was held in 2016
The cultural event which is organised by the ministry of culture and tourism ogun state state debuted last year on tuesday 19th April 2016 at the cultural centre complex, kuto-Abeokuta, this year’s own would kick off on the 20th of april.
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2. It was formerly known as The Nigeria Drum festival
When it debuted last year, it was known as Nigerian drum festival, but the name was changed to African drum festival during the opening ceremony of the maiden edition, when the representative of the Minister of culture appealed to the Governor to change the name of the festival to African Drum Festival because he saw the importance of the festival beyond Nigeria…
3. It’s mission
The African drum festival (Nigerian drum festival) is aimed at not only promoting the country’s cultural heritage and unity on the African continent, but also promoting inter-African leisure travel and the renaissance of our African cultural milestones in contributing toward civilisation.
It does this by showcasing the display of drums, dances and performances from different parts of Africa as an integral part of rich cultural heritage that must be preserved.
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4. The world’s tallest drum was unveiled at the maiden edition
The first ever edition of the African drum festival saw the unveiling of what was declared the world’s tallest drum, it stands at 17ft from the ground…
5. Tourist atttaction
Although the first event saw much turn up from both municipal states and beyond, this year’s own themed “reviving our culture in drums” would accommodate more drummers from all over the world than it did last year.
6. Cont’d from 5…
Dignitaries from far are wide are expected to attend this years edition of the festival. This includes but not limited to Cultural troupes from the US, Cuba, Haiti, benin republic, congo brazzaville, zimbabwe and ghana.
7. Reviving our culture in drums
This years theme “Reviving Our Culture in Drums,” have being programmed to reveal the richness and depth of Ogun, Nigeria and by extension, the African culture in general, to the world and it kicked off today the 20th of April.
The whole festival Would be hosted with about N50 million.
