One of the centrepieces of the week-long festivities was the International Heritage Parade. This hugely colourful procession wound its way through more than eight miles of the city’s streets, with thousands of revellers on hand to cheer on proceedings. A mix of African culture and Caribbean influences, participants in the parade celebrate their national identity by dressing in colourful costumes and engaging in exciting dances and masquerade displays. This year’s Heritage Parade included floats from both Malaysia and South Africa to give the event a truly international flavour. Amongst the many spectators were a number of local dignitaries, including the Governor of Rivers State, who acted as the main host of the proceedings and the Rivers State Commissioner for Information.
Beauty Queen is Crowned
This year’s festival saw the very first Miss CARNIRIV beauty contest held, with the winner being Stephaine Chinda. The pageant was held at the Presidential Hotel in Port Harcourt, with contestants representing each of the 23 local governments which make up Rivers State. The triumphant Miss Chinda was presented with a brand new Hyundai Grand car and a foreign scholarship. The scholarship is part of the Rivers State government’s initiative to promote foreign studies and scholarship. Miss CARNIRIV was crowned on December 12th and was on hand for the rest of the festival to lend a hand with various other events.
Amongst the plethora of other events and activities taking place during CARNIRIV 2014 were a number of music concerts. These included the Black African Music Festival, the World Peace Concert and Reggae 360. The Reggae 360 show saw a number of popular artists take to the main stage, such as Ras Kimono and Majek Fashek. The headline act who brought Reggae 360, and indeed CARNIRIV itself, to a stirring conclusion was Port Harcourt native Timaya. Home-town hero Timaya, who has released a number of highly popular albums in Nigeria, wowed the crowd with an exceptionally well-received performance.
One People One Love
Add in even more exciting events, such as Dance of the Fireflies, Praise Jam, HOSH Jam and the International Aquatic Fiesta, and it is easy to see why CARNIRIV is regarded as one of the premier arts and culture festivals in the whole of Africa. Each year the people of Port Harcourt are given the opportunity to celebrate their own culture, in addition to that of other states from across Nigeria. The tagline for the 2014 festivities, One People One Love Edition, was certainly an apt name for this most friendly and colourful of events, which showed the city of Port Harcourt at its very best.
