ABUJA CARNIVAL 2005,  24th  -  27th November 2005.      
   
The Abuja Carnival 2005 can justifiably claim to be "THE MOTHER OF ALL CARNIVALS". Indeed the source of Caribbean and South American Masquerade is revealed to have originated in Nigeria.
 
On Thursday 24th November 2005, Honourable President Obasanjo, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Father (Baba) to a nation of over 350 ethnic groups and 140 million people, declared the Abuja Carnival 2005 open. It was the first of its kind in modern day Nigeria and under the heading "Celebrate Culture, Celebrate Life", the Abuja Carnival 2005 was the catalyst that brought all of Nigeria together in an atmosphere of harmony and joy and in celebration of each other. Cultural diversity was extolled and the Unity it facilitated is to be treasured.
 
  		      
 
   
Over the four days of Carnival, over 1,000,000 million Nigerians were present at the following events:
 
Thursday 24th November 2005 Opening Ceremony and the celebration of Carnival At Eagle Square, Abuja and the Performances by the Children of Nigeria at Millennium Park 
 
Friday 25th November 2005 the Grand Durbar of horsemen and women at the Old Equestrian Ground
 
Saturday 26th November 2005 the Masquerade Fiesta at Eagle Square, followed by the Boat Regatta on the lake
 
Sunday 27th November 2005 the Carnival Climax Parade through the streets of Abuja and culminating in Eagle Square for the Closing Ceremony
Each evening was rounded off  by high quality performances on stage by some of Nigeria's leading artists and music bands.
 

 

    
       
    The Carnival was fun and well accommodated.    
       
         
       
         
Visit the Abuja Carnival Slide Show
 
The Carnival Roadshow Company was honoured to be commissioned as consultants to the design and development of the Carnival itself and its management structure.

All of Nigeria was on display. From the well-organised displays of costumes, dance, drumming, music and general performances one was able to clearly see the ROOTS of the Caribbean and Latin American carnivals. Costumed characters like La Diablesse, Midnight Robber, Shortney were all on display performing to drumming and calypso-style music that told their story. There was endless applause and endless appreciative praises for the different styles of masquerade, dance, horsemanship and riverine displays. 

 
Clearly what we witnessed was a historic and ground-breaking demonstration of unity and diversity as displayed through cultural performance, that illustrated to the world that the ROOTS of Carnival are identifiable with African civilisation as portrayed in the western regions of Africa.
 
The "Mother of All Carnivals" most definitely, the Abuja Carnival 2005.
 
We look forward to the Abuja Carnival being an annual fixture in the calendar of the People of Nigeria to celebrate culture and celebrate life.

 
We can whole heartedly recommend a visit to the Abuja Carnival 2006 and after those four days of festive fun, one could explore the other delights of the many regions of Nigeria which have largely remained unexplored by tourists, but which nevertheless offer exciting  opportunities for cultural and geographical tourism.
Fly to Abuja by:  Virgin Nigeria

Virgin Nigeria, the new 100% privately-owned flag carrier, took off on the 28th June, with its launch flight from Lagos to London. The following Virgin Nigeria flights are now on sale:

         Lagos - London - Lagos         Lagos - Abuja - Lagos
  Lagos - Port Harcourt - Lagos   Lagos - Accra - Lagos
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