Limbe braces-up for 2nd edition of FESTAC

Placed under the distinguished patronage of the Minister of Arts and Culture, FESTAC 2015 will run from 4-11 APRIL 2015 in the sea-side resort town
By Ajongakou Santos in Limbe

Limbe Gov. Delegate, Andrew Motanga and other stakeholders of FESTAC

The second edition of the Limbe Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) will hold in the sea-side resort town from April 4-11, 2015 with participants drawn from all over Cameroon and some neighbouring countries like Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone.
    The Limbe FESTAC is organised by the Limbe city council in partnership with other stakeholder institutions in the city of Limbe, notably; CDC and SONARA.
    Placed under the distinguished patronage of the Ministry of Arts and Culture, the promising event aims to showcase the rich and diverse cultural heritage of the Fako people in particular and Cameroon’s ten regions as a whole. It is a life-enhancing and entertaining jamboree that seeks to redefine the personal and national identities of the peoples of Fako, Cameroon and Africa, according to organizers of the must-witness events.
     Participants at this year’s FESTAC are therefore expected to converge on Limbe as from April 4, when the events would be officially opened.

    Announcing the event at a press briefing on March 18, 2015, the Government Delegate to the Limbe City Council said all was on-course for a successful holding of the second edition of the event. Andrew Motanga Mojimba, chairperson of the steering committee, said senior councilors of the City Council at the end of the first edition in 2014 planned for a better festival in 2015. He said committees to handle different aspects of the events were since created and are already far advanced with their respective tasks.
    Activities during the 8-day events will include a walk round the town of Limbe, excursions to tourist sites, traditional dance and dress exhibitions, ecumenical services, arts, crafts, and food displays, a marathon, musical concerts and traditional sports events (wrestling, tug of war, Canoe race).
    Mr. Motanga Mojimba also announced that plans to make this year’s festival more successful have been put in place with some major innovations; a Miss FESTAC competition, Better exhibition of arts and craft, and  a musical concert in the evenings enriched with choral singing.
    According to the south west regional delegate of arts and culture, this year’s FESTAC is promising given most of the region’s rich cultural values have in the past been abandoned. While calling on all and sundry to turn out en masse in their traditional outfit for the festival, the regional delegate also promised the presence of the world’s best traditional hairdresser, who is a Cameroonian.
    The Limbe Festival of Arts and Culture was recommended to authorities of the City Council by Arts and Culture minister, Ama Tutu Muna, after she witnessed the colourful and successful events that marked the 150th anniversary of the founding of Victoria (now Limbe) in December 2009.
    Sitting alongside the government delegate during the press briefing were; the south west regional delegate for Arts and Culture, mayors of the Limbe I and III, representatives of the General Managers of SONARA and CDC, and Chief Ikum Samuel of Dikolo village.