The Akwa Ibom Christmas Carols Festival is back bigger and better. This is coming aftermath the COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged the world in 2020, bringing a big lull to the Yuletide of that year.
On Friday, December 17, the music festival will make a grand comeback amidst fanfare, holding at the Ibom Hall Arena, IBB Avenue, Uyo. The Christmas carols festival, which debuted in 2008 as Akwa Ibom Christmas Carol Night, made history in 2011 when it featured 9,999-member choir, giving the event the sobriquet, ‘9999 Carol Night’.
Three years later, the show set a new world record after parading 25,272 carols singers. Since then, the carol festival has grown to become a major international programme that annually attracts audiences and artistes from around the world. It has featured local and international gospel musicians like Nathaniel Bassey, Eben, Sinach, Aity Dennis, Bongo Ikwue, Harmonious Chorale, Don Moen, Donnie McClurkin, Ron Kenoly, and Bob Fitts among others.
This year, the Akwa Ibom Christmas Carols Festival promises to be a much grander event with an array of top gospel music singers, powerful preachers of the word, bigger venue, large parking space, and adequate security measures for attendees. Speaking at a media unveil in Lagos recently, the Akwa Ibom State’s Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Hon. Orman Esin, said the state is ready to host visitors from around the globe this Christmas season.
“The aim of the unveiling is to intimate Nigerians and indeed Africans on the giant strides of Governor Udom Emmanuel in Akwa Ibom State, most especially in the tourism sector. And also to invite the world to experience Akwa Ibom in all its splendour as a top choice destination to live, work and invest,” he reiterated.