The Olokun Festival Foundation (OFF) has said the 2024 edition of the Olokun Festival will attract over 20,000 guests and participants from across the world.
This was disclosed by the chairman of the festival, Barr Yinka Oguntimehin, in a chat with journalists in Lagos.
According to him, in the near future, the festival will become a major tourist attraction for international tourists and a major boost to the sustainable development of tourism in the country.
He, however, called on corporate organisations and Nigerians in general to join hands with the foundation to promote Yoruba traditions and culture.
Speaking on the festival, Oguntimehin, who is also the Asoju Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba land, said the annual event, which commenced in 2002, with this year’s being the 22nd edition, had been successfully organised without any break since then after the first and second editions, which were held at the Alpha Beach, before being permanently moved to Badagry.
He said OFF embarked on the journey to organise the annual event at a time when it observed that the Yoruba race was losing touch with its culture and traditions, declaring that the successes recorded through the festival, which he said is spiritual “with a basketful of blessings,” were “beyond the funfair that you see and enjoy at the grand finale.”
“This year marks the 22nd edition of the Olokun Festival. It may interest you to note that we have successfully organised the festival without any break since 2002, after the first edition, which was held at Alpha Beach.
“We embarked on the journey at a time when we observed that the Yoruba race was losing touch with their culture and traditions.
“The Olokun Festival has recorded unprecedented successes in the last 22 years. It is, therefore, a thing of joy that we are seeing many other pseudo-groups following in our footsteps. But we have set a standard that is difficult to meet, if not impossible, in cultural festival celebrations that spread across the length and breadth of Yorubaland.
“The Olokun Festival Foundation is indisputably the only non-governmental organisation in the country that has consistently organised more than 20 cultural and traditional festivals every year. It is important to note that we have achieved this feat without the support of any outside or corporate organisation.
“We envisage that the annual Olokun Festival organised by the Olokun Festival Foundation (OFF) shall become a major tourist attraction for international tourists in the near future. It will be a major boost to the sustainable development of tourism in Nigeria.
“Let me, however, use this opportunity to extend an open invitation to members of the general public or corporate organisation that may be disposed to join hands with us in this beautiful journey of cultural promotion. Our doors are open to you all,” he said.
“Twenty-two years after we began the journey, the Olokun Festival has grown in leaps and bounds to attain international status. The festival has truly attained global status, attracting tourists from across the globe every year. Today, cultural enthusiasts from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas look forward to attending the Olokun Festival.
“The reason for this is not too far-fetched. The Olokun Festival is beyond the funfair that you see and enjoy at the grand finale. Olokun is a spiritual festival with a basket full of blessings for its deities and all attendees of the festival.”
Oguntimehin, while speaking on nature, which he said God created for the benefit of humanity expressed the need to “make serious effort as humans not to destroy nature on the platter of religion or greed,” noted that Lagos State is perhaps one of the biggest beneficiaries of this gift of nature in Nigeria.
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