Carnival Calabar 2025: 20 Years of Rhythm, Resilience & Retail Impact
THE 20th anniversary of Carnival Calabar ended on a high cultural note, closing 2025 as one of the most symbolically rich entertainment years for Cross River State. The carnival, which has grown into Africa’s biggest street festival, delivered its 2025 edition with record crowd energy, amplified artistic competition and expanded economic participation. Revellers, performers and cultural curators described the 20-year milestone as a proof point that African street culture could build both global visibility and local prosperity without losing indigenous identity.
Governor Bassey Otu’s opening address made legacy and quality the twin pillars of the 2025 narrative. While acknowledging Donald Duke’s founding vision and the continuity frameworks built by Liyel Imoke, and the crisis-era resilience of Ben Ayade during COVID-19, Otu placed creative responsibility squarely on the present generation of bands. He urged groups to interpret the theme Traces of Time as a living art form, not a slogan, and emphasised that only quintessential performances would secure top promotion and billing slots. His comments framed the carnival as both cultural archive and creative proving ground.
From Millennium Park through Mary Slessor Road to multiple adjudication points and a final convergence at the U.J. Usuene Stadium, the competing bands turned Nigeria’s social history into performance anthropology. Narratives stretched from pre-transatlantic cultural systems to the digital age, incorporating symbols of migration, youth pop culture, tech ecosystems, Africa’s creative economy rise, and futuristic design language. The competitive results reflected the festival’s artistic hierarchy: Rivers State won the Cultural Carnival State category, Calabar South triumphed in the local government category, Freedom Band secured the Junior Carnival title, while Calas Vegas Band captured the Main Carnival 2025 championship, emerging as the defining face of this edition.
Beyond costumes and choreography, the carnival again proved itself an economic accelerant. Hospitality tables reached ₦500,000, stadium concerts ran till dawn with performances by Timaya and Tiwa Savage, and street parties turned the entire route into participatory entertainment. Traders called it their peak season. Blessing Bassey, who sells roasted plantain and fish, said the carnival period remained her most dependable annual income boost, helping sustain household needs. Love Etim, a teacher who recently entered seasonal trading during the festival, praised the 2025 edition for better seating structure, visual variety and expanded income pathways, signalling that the carnival had evolved into both cultural spectacle and economic platform. The festival’s closure has now shifted attention to 2026 planning, with stakeholders calling for earlier trader preparation, sustained creative skill investment, and stronger international cultural collaborations to maintain Calabar’s edge as Africa’s boldest street-culture carnival.
