By Yunus S Saliu
Making the annual Banjul End-of-Year Cultural Festival a more conducive, complacency, and palatable to attend during the celebration, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture (MOTC) in conjunction with the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC) and stakeholders, on Wednesday, held its second monthly stakeholders meeting for the festival.
The meeting was attended by different associations affiliated with the National Centre for Arts and Culture, and it marked the second preparatory meeting organized by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture for this annual festival.
Hosting the monthly meeting at the Conference Room of the MOTC in Banjul, different committees were set up for the flow hosting, making it stress-free and worthwhile as usual. The established committees included transport, safety, waste management, traffic and parking, and security committees.
Banjul End-of-Year Cultural Festival, also known as hunting festival, is a weeklong cultural festival performance that commences on Christmas Eve and ends at the cock crow of the second day of the New Year with over 50,000 attendees – Gambians and non-Gambians alike from home and away. The highlight of the festival is the parade of about fifty hunting (Egungun masquerade) groups among them are Odilleh, Ekun Baba, Gun Shot, and Saul Sow Carnival.
However, at this meeting presided over by Honorable AbdoulieJobe, Minister of Tourism and Culture, he noted that it is a huge economic activity for The Gambia.
“This is very good for the country and all hands should be on deck to make it a successful festival,” he urged.
He challenged the established committees to work hard and ensure that all the necessary logistics were in place for the event.
The Minister assured stakeholders of the government’s commitment to the promotion of culture and empowerment of the youth in all sectors of the economy.
Meanwhile, the first organized meeting for this festival was in July 2024.