8 Days, 20 Million People: Is The One Lagos Fiesta The Biggest New Year Celebration The World Has Ever Witnessed?

In Lagos, Nigeria, 20 million residents gathered to usher in the New Year in what is possibly the biggest New Year countdown celebration in the world.

One Lagos Fiesta

Ushering in a New Year is one ritual people of all races and religions across the globe always look forward to and this year’s was no different.

From Dubai where hundreds of thousands turned out to watch fireworks shoot out from the sides of the 828-metre-tall Burj Khalifa, to the US of A where an estimated 1 million people braved the cold temperature to watch the glittering crystal ball drop in New York’s Time Square, major cities around the world – and even the smaller ones were lit up in celebration on New Year’s Eve counting down to 2017.

But none of these came close to what happened in Africa’s biggest city, Lagos, Nigeria. The party started early for the 20 million residents of Africa’s ‘Big Apple’ – a full week ahead of New Year’s Eve.

An offshoot of the Lagos Countdown, the One Lagos Fiesta is a wide scale celebration of the culture, art and people living in the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria. Held in 5 strategic municipalities across the mega city – Badagry, Agege, Epe, Ikorodu and Bar Beach, the fiesta which aims at uniting the millions of residents, capturing the true spirit, character and culture of Lagos ran for eight days with over 40 performances and 500 hours of entertainment from some of Nigeria’s biggest artistes, upcoming acts and DJs.

Acts like Grammy Award-nominee, King Sunny Ade, Sir Shina Peters, Adewale Ayuba, Salaba Abeni, Stella Monye, Olamide, Reminisce, Adekunle Gold, Phyno, CDQ, Reekado Banks, Tiwa Savage, Dr Sid, Sound Sultan, Baba Dee, Patoranking, May D, Dammy Krane, MI, Kiss Daniel, Vector, Falz, Ice Prince, DJ Jimmy Jatt, Dj Spinall, Obesere, and a host of others delivered thrilling performances during the 8-day long fiesta. The festival also saw impressive performances from cultural groups like the Lagos State Council of Arts and Culture, Meshico Sax Traditional band, and the Awori Troupe at some of the locations, entertaining the audience with traditional dances, music and plays unique to the city that is arguably the entertainment capital of Africa.

Beyond providing premium, entertainment from established acts, the fiesta was also a means of showcasing the rich talent pool in the city through the Lagos Got Talent competition. The competition, which was just introduced as part of the programme for the 2016 fiesta, is one way the government hopes to discover new talents in the city and provide a platform for them. The inaugural competition unearthed 250 talents in the form of rappers, dancers, contortionists, singers and other gifted youngsters.

Winners from all 5 locations converged at Bar Beach for the finals where Ojo Ogunlaja was crowned overall winner of the first edition of the competition. Ojo, an 18-year-old orphan represented Epe municipality alongside Opeyemi Ishola, an 11-year-old rapper, having emerged overall winners from their zone. The teenager, who is also a first year Sociology undergraduate at the Lagos State University, revealed that the loss of his parents at an early age served as a motivation all through the competition.

Much to the delight of Lagosians, the State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode visited all five locations to engage with citizens as well as share his plans for the city.

And the government does have a bigger picture in mind. Home to some of the biggest global businesses and multinationals, the fiesta is also a means to draw attention to the huge tourist potential in the city. Before now, the Ambode-led government had demonstrated its seriousness in elevating the tourist landscape in the city by expanding the Lagos State Waterfront and Tourism Development Corporation (LSWTDC), into the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture.

Thus, places like Badagry, known for being home to the Slave Museum, Agia Tree, the first storey building in Nigeria, the Badagry beach and a few others can experience more growth towards realizing their tourist potential. An evidence of this was when the governor on his visit to the historic town during the fiesta, announced plans to construct a state-of-the art cinema within the next 18 months - a move that would further expand the socio-economic landscape in the region and create employment opportunities for youths in Badagry. Bar Beach is also the frontier of the Eko Atlantic, which is touted as the next hotspot for major businesses and eye-catching development schemes to rival cities like Dubai. Towards Epe, there’s a lineup of beaches, resorts and conservation centres.

And as the One Lagos Fiesta grows – which it has undoubtedly done in only its second edition – these regions are expected to experience an influx of tourists just like developed cities in France, England, Japan, United Arab Emirates and the United States, creating an ecosystem for thriving businesses long after the festival is over.