Calabar Carnival, 'africa's biggest street party'

Please don’t call my number today, not today oh no no not today, don’t even send a letter, not today cos I am calabar, christmas in Calabar…

As the theme song goes, Calabar in Cross River State Nigeria is the place to be during christmas. Witness the sight and sounds of one of Africa biggest street festival.

Calabar has a lot to offer when it comes to culture, then governor of the state in 2004 initiated the street festival to showcase this rich heritage to the world.

Eleven down the line, the carnival is bigger with a spectacular cultural parade of ethnic costumes and dance.

“Tourism is indeed our own oil. We will use tourism to market the state to the world. The attention of the world is focused on Calabar today, as you can see, the state is wearing a new look.” said Gabriel Onah, Chairman, Calabar Carnival Commission

11 countries from across the world participated in this years event, including Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Ghana,Burundi, Kenya, Brazil, Spain, France, and Italy.

The 32 days fun packed colourful festival covered a12 kilometre stretch.

“We are celebrating 11 years of the carnival; the greatest street party ever; the greatest show in West Africa, this is just the beginning”. said Governor Ben Ayade.