‘Why We Won Carnival Calabar For Second Time’

The leader of the Calavegas Band (the winning band) at the just-concluded Carnival Càlabar 2025, who is also former minister for Culture and Tourism High Chief Edem Duke, has attributed his band’s victory to total commitment to the task by band members and their creative abilities to interpret roles of carnival theme as being responsible for the continuous victory.

Duke made the revelation during an interactive session with journalists shortly after organizing a get-together party to celebrate yesterday’s victory at the former Mirage Hotel Calabar.
He said that the only secret keeping the band on top of their game in the last two years, when Calavegas has remained winning, was their total commitment to the rules of the game, which caused the revellers to bring out their God-given talents to the fore.

“There’s no secret to this, other than committing ourselves to the very best of creative potential and utilisation of personnel.

“Interpretation of the film and the general aggregation of all the inherent talents within the band to compete favourably with other bands and ensure that what we present is one amongst equals and ultimately judged to be the best”. He maintained.

Giving insight into the philosophy behind the Calavegas Band, the former minister stressed that Calavegas is just like any other band, except that it is being led by one of Africa’s foremost performing artists and someone lucky enough to play at a very high level in terms of communication and marketing.
Continuing, the combination of that and the willingness of the young men and women to be tutored, Choreographed, and understand the season’s spirit helped us manifest as the best brand this season.

“We must just keep the spirit of the carnival alive; winning is just an extra thing, but the collaboration, intensiveness of performance and creativity, and the entire dynamics are something we will continue to sustain,” he said.

For the sustainability of victory, Duke stressed that the management of Calavegas Band has plans to launch the band in the state’s central and Cross River North Senatorial district for talent harvesting, making the band formidable so that they can remain on top of the game.