Smiles as Kaduna holds arts, culture festival
The just concluded 2017 edition of the Kaduna State Festival of Arts and Culture (KADFEST) which took place from Monday, August 21, to 25, featured traditional and cultural dances showcasing various arts and crafts, music and display of different cultures in Kaduna State. Participants were dressed in different colourful attires which signified the local government […]
The just concluded 2017 edition of the Kaduna State Festival of Arts and Culture (KADFEST) which took place from Monday, August 21, to 25, featured traditional and cultural dances showcasing various arts and crafts, music and display of different cultures in Kaduna State.
Participants were dressed in different colourful attires which signified the local government areas they represented.
Participants converged on Wharf Road for a rally and proceeded for the opening ceremony at the Murtala Mohammed Square, main venue for the festival.
The theme of the festival: ‘Our Folklore: Harnessing Today as Tomorrow’s Heritage’ was aimed at showcasing and marketing the high-yielding investible arts and cultural potentials that abound in the state.
The arena for the festival was filled with different sights and sounds while the festival lasted and the crowds cheered nonstop.
All the 23 local government areas of the state participated in the festival. Sanga Local Government Area emerged overall winner, while Kaduna South and Giwa local government areas came second and third respectively.
The Kaduna State Government had earlier accepted to host the 2017 edition of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) and intended to use KADFEST 2017 as a rehearsal, Kaduna State Commissioner for Youths, Sports and Culture, Daniel Dan-Auta, said.
KADFEST is organised by the Ministry of Youths, Sports and Culture, and since its inception, it has served as one of the forums for the promotion of unity and peaceful coexistence among the diverse cultural complexes in the state.
Our correspondent reports that the festival has contributed immensely in enhancing the resilient character that has marked the state out as a study in harmonious co-existence in Nigeria which has helped in no small measure to facilitate and sustain Kaduna’s central role in regional, national and international, as well as other beneficial economic, social and political forums.
“The festival would also serve as avenue to select entries for the state to participate in the annual National Festival for Arts and Culture. It may interest you to know that each of the 10 competitive events will have a special guest, a chairperson, a coordinator and a panel of professional judges drawn from relevant specialisations.
“This would enable the ministry to have credible winners in each of the events who will be further groomed to represent the state at NAFEST 2017. Based on these thrust, it is important for all local government areas to participate in all the 10 competitive events as prizes and certificates will be awarded both for wining and participation,” the commissioner said.
The commissioner commended the contingents for their performances at the five-day competition, describing it as unique.
“For the first time, all contingents from the 23 local government areas were camped under one roof at the Kaduna International Trade Fair Complex, thus bringing the different communities together with a view to knowing one another’s cultural values and fostering unity,” the commissioner concluded.
Yahaya Muhammad Lawal, a contingent from Kaduna South Local Government Area, said he was optimistic that they would win one of the prizes in either drama or dancing.
Highlighting some of the items on display by the contingents at their different stands in the Gamji Multi-Purpose Hall, Yahaya said: “We have local plaiting tools, local farming tools, calabashes, local pots and pans made of clay and iron, knives and other hand-crafted utensils.”
He commended the conduct of the festival and urged the state government to continue hosting it, saying, “It is an avenue for the youths to know the culture and tradition of their ancestors because it is the only way to preserve the culture of the state.”
He, however, frowned at the nonchalant attitude of youths in preserving culture and tradition and challenged them to make it a point of duty to take interest in their culture and heritage so that they did not go extinct.
Meanwhile, speaking to our correspondents, Joy Adamu, a beads craftswoman, from Jema’a Local Government Area, said she was optimistic that she would generate sales and contacts which would enhance her business.
She said: “I learnt bead making in a catering school because I have had passion for handwork; especially bead making, since I was a child, so even with or without the market, I enjoy the business because wearing what you use your hands to make is a thing of joy.”
Joy further said learning bead making was not so expensive as the prices ranged from N15,000, N18,000 to N25, 000, depending on the number of months one spent to learn the trade.
“I have two National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in my employment in my shop in Jere in Kagarko Local Government Area,” she said.
Commenting on her expectations, she said, “I hope that after this festival, I can start coming on my own and not under Jema’a Local Government.”
She called on women to engage in entrepreneurship, adding that, “Men of today do not want to marry women that are liabilities, so it is better for women to be gainfully engaged in a trade so that they can fend for themselves and their children.
“My parents are alive, but I don’t believe in depending on them for my livelihood. Instead, I should be the one taking care of them. Women should be able to use their hands to help themselves. It does not mean that you have to make sales every day, but at least you are engaged and people will respect you more,” she concluded.