Calabar carnival is tagged Africa’s biggest street party, have you ever seen a gathering of thousands of people all partying at the same time in Africa? If you haven’t, then Calabar is the place to be this December. Calabar carnival was founded by Mr Donald Duke in 2004, it was created out of a quest to make Cross River state the hub for tourism and hospitality in Nigeria, Africa and beyond. We can say for a fact that this goal seems really achievable. If you thought only the ‘crossriverians’ took part in this yearly street party then you thought wrong, every year, tourist fly into the country Nigeria and head straight to Calabar to experience the 31 days festive period, 27th of December is always the highlight of the event. 
The Calabar Carnival is made up of five competing bands, these bands are judged based on makeup, costume, best band on the move, choreography, and best interpretation of the theme, trust us when we say that is one hell of a job. The Cross River State arm of government that is tasked with these responsibility come up with a theme each year, this theme enlightens the citizens about global challenges and it is being interpreted in dance, drama and cultural displays. You might be wondering, why are they spending such a huge amount of capital into a street party? Let’s take you on a fun fact. 
If you consider the amount of money the government and the people of Cross River make every December then you might as well want to move to the states capital in December, All the costumes made for this event are produced in Calabar by tailors, carpenters, painters, etc. everyone gets to benefit from this venture because more hands are employed and the people get to make an income for themselves.
Asides that, more than 500 food vendors make a lot of cash than they have made the entire year, just from the 31 days festival that occurs in Calabar. Did we mention that if you were to fly into Calabar on the 24th -28th of December you would probably have all airlines fully booked to the city, and peradventure you make it on a plane on the 26th of December heading toCalabar with the intention of staying at a hotel, you would probably be stranded because all the hotels in the city are usually fully booked (we lie you not). If your still wondering why you should attend Africa’s biggest street party, let’s leave you with these.
It is the perfect place to unwind all the stress of the year, you get to meet a lot of beautiful people, business associates, sometimes your future spouse (we mean you really don’t know), there’s always a party, celebrity crush, date nights, live performance at the Stadium, a lot of good food, the beautiful cultural dance, the Ekpe masquerade, the beautiful landscape of Calabar, visit to Obudu cattle ranch, and if your industrious you make some money for yourself by selling a lot of things. The list is endless, watch the clip below and perhaps you would see a few reasons why you should attend this annual event.
