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Kpegekie Barivure Simmons is the initiator of A taste of Nigeria based in the United States of America. Her aim is to project the positive lifestyle of Nigerians in the Diaspora. The event billed for October 7, 2017, will showcase Nigeria’s fashion, food, music, movies, dances and style. She tells Effects how the passion started.
Can you throw more light on A taste of Nigeria?
The festival depicts the richness of Nigerian culture vis-à-vis fashion, culture,food, arts/craft. Artistes like Kelly Handsome, Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN) and Goje Africa will feature at this year’s edition. Nigeria is rich in culture and my goal, way back in 2008 when I started, was to showcase Nigeria to the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas and eventually, to the world stage. The first one did not go well and it took a few years to effect the changes and restarted it in October, 2014. The festival was a hit and we have held it annually till date.
What other things will be showcased?
We showcase everything that has to do with Nigeria; her music, drama, fashion, poetry, comedy. It is everything about Nigeria. Interestingly, apart from reaching out to Nigerians in Diaspora, the show also caught the attention of non Nigerian, especially those of African descent. The show actually targets Nigerians who haven’t been in the country for a long time. We also have a lot of people who have not been to Nigeria, a lot of Caucasians, a lot of white people and African-Americans who come because they see it as a way of experiencing Nigeria. Interestingly, half of my audience are not Nigerians. When they come to experience the events, they get amazed about the potential here and want to visit Nigeria.
Is there any plan to stage the Nigerian version?
A taste of Nigeria in Nigeria? I don’t mind but I think it would be redundant. However, I am partnering with Goje Africa this year and I believe the partnership would make things different and unique this year. It would be great because they are coming to cover the event and they will be broadcasting it on the existing channels and I guess that would give more exposure to the event in Nigeria.
Why the passion for Taste in Nigeria?
I have passion for different things because I want to reach different people. Funding of the project is from sponsorship, vendors and the ticket sale. I am positive that the show would go a long way to recreate Nigeria’s image abroad.We actually do a lot of things that Nigerians may not think about in Nigeria. We serve them things that we see on a different basis but some are not Nigerians or have not been to Nigeria. So, they’re going to experience our culture live and that makes the entire thing interesting to me.
