Carnival Calabar 2012 of colours, styles and dances

THE rush to join the celebration of the biggest street party in Africa, Carnival Calabar in Cross River State, was intense. The preparation for many who have experienced it before was normal and for first timers, the anxiety could be seen from their anxious faces as they struggled on the queue to board the flight from Lagos.
The local wing of the Murtala International Airport was besieged by both domestic and international visitors and tourists waiting to meet up with different flight schedules on the eve of Christmas for the high point of the Carnival Calabar slated for December 26 and 27, respectively.

Airline workers became tin gods, as they were seen jumping the queues with people who were not on the queue . This made most of the queues either immobile or moving at a slow pace, which made passengers to exchange words with airline workers before the situation returned to normal.

A big business it created for airline operators: ticket rates skyrocketed, flights where rescheduled and cancelled and passengers who could not wait decided to opt for other airlines just to see that they beat the rush of Christmas day.

Even when the passengers were also guilty as charged on the issue of impatience, trying to see that they were attended to on the queue, the airline workers, were given to anger as they lost the norms of customer relations to uncomplimentary words and approaches, forgetting the adage, ‘Customers are always right.”

This scenario continued as the writer of the this piece and other media delegates to Calabar for the 2012 carnival after one hour delay boatded the, 55-minute flight Margret Ekpo Airport in Calabar.

At the Margret Ekpo Airport, Calabar, the festivity was obvious; though, with the renovation work ongoing, it was vivid and conspicuous that the people of Calabar are hospitable. A mini carnival float and steel bands were on ground to welcome and cheers visitors arriving from different destinations to Calabar.

Driving out of the MEA, the media crew were embraced by the appealing scenery of Calabar Street, adorned with beautiful decorations and different designs of lighting.

Already, the 32-day fiesta, which held visitors, tourists and investors spellbound for days with different musical entertainments and shows, was, complemented by a myriad of activities put up at the festival village for visitors’delight.

Christmas Day, December 25

On December 25, 2012, the programme was on a light scale to give room for people to celebrate Xmas. Notwithstanding, families were given a swell time at the Tinapa, Marine Resort, old Residency Museum, Botanical Garden and Cultural Centre, where they had more to eat and drink with live bands to entertain them. Later in the evening, the U J Esuene Stadium came alive with a command performance by the winners of Sao Paulo Carnival 2012, VaiVai samba School, interjected by the carnival kings and queens competition, witnessed by the Acting Governor of Cross River State, Mr. Efiok Essien Cobham the team of the carnival commission among other entourage.

Boxing Day, Children carnival, December 26

Entering is third edition, the boxing day was created to give visibility to the young at heart to be part of the 32-day festival through the children carnival, to groom them for prosperity and to give them a sense of belonging.

The children’s carnival and party was a leap in time because of the platform created for them to show and also develop talents, brought out the best in them in terms of culture connect, as they demonstrated contemporary and aesthetic skills to the admiration of the crowd at the botanical garden.

The day began with a cultural carnival where local government in the state showcased the interconnectivities in culture; dance and attires, drums, masquerades and musical instruments showing the beauty and colours of the people’s heritage, unity and co-existence.

The day’s event was rounded off with a musical entertainment tagged Naija most wanted, which features 2face, MI, Ice Prince, Real Pound, Monkals and Kola Soul at the UJ EsueneStatdium.

Carnival Calabar grand finale, December 27

As early as 6: 00am participating bands; Master Blaster, Freedom, Bayside, Passion Four and Seagull were at different locations, building up their floats to hit the streets while Cross Riverians, domestic and international visitors were also out, positioning and setting up pavilions along the carnival route to give a vivid account of the carnival float.

Though the carnival started a little bit behind schedule, at a few minutes to 12 noon when the Acting Governor, declared ‘Let the party begin’ and cut the tape, the competing bands were let loose to the streets for a 12-Kilometre procession of dance, choreography and display to interpret the theme of the 2012 Carnival Calabar.

The bands, in different artistic displays and performances, colourful attires, dance steps and movement thrilled crowds at different points to score some marks.

However, the Samba band from Brazil, which was one of the new innovations in this year’s event in the Rio de Janerio style, colours and glamour, stole the show at the second adjudication point as the team exchanged pleasantries with the cheering crowd that lined up the 12 kilometer of the carnival route.

And winner is Master Blasta

Masta Blasta Band won the 2012 Carnival Calabar competition, carting home the star prize of N10 million as Band of the Year.

Announcing the results of the competition, the chairman of the State Tourism Commission, Mr. Gabe Onah, said the second position was won by Passion 4 Band while the third place was won by Freedom Band, which went home with N5 million and N3 million respectively.

Masta Blasta Band also won the Carnival Float, Best Band on the Move, Carnival Spirit, Best Interpretation of the Carnival Theme and Best Costumes and received N2 million respectively.

In the Junior Category, the Band of the Year award was won Seagull Band; second was Masta Blasta and third was Passion Four. Each got N3 million, N2 million and N1 million respectively.

Seagull Band won the Carnival Spirit, Best Interpretation of Carnival Theme while Masta Blasta Band won the best costumes.

The Junior King was won by Masta Blasta and Queen by Seagull and each went home with N5 million respectively.

Adult Carnival was a 12-kilometre road show, renamed “Africa’s Biggest Street Party”, while the Children’s Carnival was a four-kilometer parade of colours, costumes, styles, music and dance in line with the theme of the 2012 Carnival Calabar which was “Celebrating a New Dawn”.

The Sao Poalo Vai Vai Samba Carnival Band of Brazil added a touch of a South American taste to the Carnival by performing at some adjudication posts to the admiration of the large crowd that thronged there to watch the parade.

In another development, Calabar Municipality won the Star Prize of N1 million in the Cultural parade competition with four countries and 32 states participating.

The second position was won by Bakassi Local Government Area, Ikom LGA and Odukpani LGA which shared the sum of N1.5 million.

Speaking to newsmen before the commencement of the parade, the chairman of the State Carnival Commission, Mr Onah, disclosed that it had grown in leaps and bounds, adding that the cultural content was the soul of the participation.

According to Onah, Governor Liyel Imoke introduced it in the Calabar Festival so that the cultural values and tradition of the people would not go into extinction.

He explained that the six-kilometre procession was packaged into the programme as a way of boosting the tourism potentials of Cross River as well as that of the participating states and countries.

The chairman remarked that while cash prizes were for local government areas in the state, participating states and countries were given honorarium as acknowledgement and encouragement.