Why Aké Festival Should Travel Beyond Lagos

The 2025 Aké Arts and Book Festival has come and gone, leaving behind the familiar excitement it brings each year — powerful conversations, book launches, film screenings and a gathering of some of the brightest voices in African literature. As always, Lagos was buzzing. However, as the festival grows, one point becomes impossible to ignore: Aké needs to start happening in other cities as well.

Lagos has the energy, the venues and the visibility, but it also has limitations. Many young readers, writers and creatives across Nigeria simply cannot afford the trip. Transport, accommodation, and the fast pace of Lagos make the festival feel out of reach for people in cities like Enugu, Abuja, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Jos and Benin. Yet these same places are home to vibrant reading communities, universities and cultural hubs that would gladly embrace the festival.

Taking Aké on the road — even if just one edition every few years — would open the doors to thousands of new participants. Students who have only read about the festival online could finally attend. Local writers and storytellers from different regions would have a platform without the economic barrier of travelling to Lagos. And each city would bring its own flavour, its own stories and its own audience.

The truth is simple: a travelling Aké Festival would deepen its impact. It would spread literary culture more evenly across the country and strengthen the idea that African storytelling belongs to everyone, not only those who can reach Lagos.

Aké has already proven itself as one of Africa’s biggest cultural gatherings. The next step — and a truly exciting one — is giving other Nigerian cities the chance to host it. The readership, talent, and hunger for knowledge are there. The organisers only need to explore it.