The government of Senegal, Côte D’Ivoire and Trinidad and Tobago have indicated interest in showcasing their countries’ culinary art and musical performances during the 2023 edition of Nigeria’s Gastronomy Festival.
Alhaji Nura Kangiwa, Director-General, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), organiser of the festival, disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Lagos.
Kangiwa said that the Ambassadors of each of the countries gave their commitment when he paid courtesy visits to their offices in Abuja on Thursday.
He said the gastronomy festival slated to hold from June 16 to June 17 in Abuja, has its theme as”Culinary Arts: The Gate Way to Growing Tourism Destinations”.
“This will be an experiential one as it will feature learning of food production processes, free sampling of diverse Nigerian and international cuisines and beverages.
“The participation of Trinidad and Tobago in this third edition of the food festival with Pan music colourful entertainment will not only enthrall visitors.
“This will also create opportunities for Nigerian tourism stakeholders to partner with Trinidad and Tobago to expand the reach of the gastronomy festival in future editions,” he said.
During the courtesy visit, the Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner in Nigeria, Wedell De Landro, promised to host a pan music rendition, as part of his country’s cultural display.
According to Landro, pan music is indigenous to Trinidad and Tobago, even though the genre has become popular among caribbean countries and long been exported to North America and Europe.
He said it would be an opportunity to promote this genre of music in Nigeria.
He noted that he had also planned to encourage future Pannists among secondary school students in Nigeria.
Similarly, the Senegalese Ambassador in Nigeria, Nicolas Nyouky, affirmed that the nation would exhibit its cuisines at the gastronomy festival.
“The gastronomy festival is a unique project and we will certainly come to showcase variety of our cuisines and other food products.
“Senegal is foremost in hospitality and tourism services because of our ‘Teranga’ attitude which is in the DNA of most Senegalese.
“We are a very hospitable people hence Senegalese receive visitors and tourists with warmth,” he said.
Côte D’Ivoire’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Kalilou Traore, also said “I will mobilize some of the best Ivorian chefs and restaurateurs to exhibit at the festival and showcase some of our most popular foods.” Activities lined-up for the festival include exhibitions of cuisines by selected African and European countries and diverse culinary arts displays such as knife skills, fruit carving, cake decoration, essay writing/quiz for secondary schools, and cooking competition among culinary schools.
