Adebayo Adenrele
The Ekiti State Government has announced plans to host the 2025 Ekiti State Festival of Culture and Arts (EKIFEST) to commonerate the third anniversary of Governor Biodun Oyebanji in office.
Addressing Journalists on Friday in Ado-Ekiti, the Director of the Festival and Chairman Organising Committee, Professor Rasaki Ojo-Bakare, said EKIFEST 2025 will be held between 21st and 25th October, 2025.
He said this year’s celebration, themed: ‘Melodies of Ethical Leadership’, is conceptualised to celebrate the continuation of Governor Oyebanji’s administration in Ekiti and to showcase the good tidings of his giant strides through arts and culture.
Reeling out the highlight of the 5-day epoch event, Professor Ojo-Bakare said there will be 1000-man parade across Ado-Ekiti on October 21, a musical concert focusing on the rebirth of Ekiti traditional music on October 22, a traditional wrestling competition among all the Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) on October 23, traditional cooking competition on October 24 and presentation of awards and prizes to best performing participants on October 25.
The Director described the event as a cultural activity that would boost the economic status of the state through the influx of visitors across every parts of the Country.
He assured Ekiti residents of maximum security, stressing that a committee has been set up to liaise with all the security agencies in the state in making sure that law and orderliness thrive.
His words, “Governor Biodun Oyebanji has approved that the Festival should held between 21st and 25th of October, 2025. We conceptualise this year’s to be a continuation of Oyebanji’s third anniversary in office.
“We normally hold on in August but we deliberately delay it to celebrate the third anniversary of the Governor. The theme is ‘Melodies of Ethical Leadership’, we have seen it in the state since he came into office. We are using the culture to let the good tidings continue.
“This year’s festival will host contemporary free style carnival, the type that has never been seen in the part of the country. We will have a 1000-man carnival parade on the streets of Ado-Ekiti. This will herald the commencement of the carnival on 21st.
“On 22nd, there will be a musical concert focuses on the rebirth on Ekiti traditional music, we have not been having those kinds of deep indigenous musics, we are using the platform of the carnival to rekindle the interest of the youths in Ekiti traditional music.
“On 23rd, there will be traditional wrestling competition among all the LGAsand LCDAS. It’s one of the celebrated events at the national festival, the young people who will be selected for the National Wrestling Festival coming up in Enugu will be chosen among the participants.
“On 24th, a traditional cooking competition will be put in place, it will mainstream the festival to the economic development of the state. It’s part of selling our own to the visitors who will visit our state.
“On 25th, there will be closing ceremony and announcements of prizes, awards, to those who have done well in the various competitions.
“Security is a very important aspect of the festival packaging, we are dealing with the public, we don’t want anything to happen to our visitors too. We have made a serious plan for security. There’s a security committee working with security personnel in the state to ensure there is no security breach.
“It’s automatic that human traffic will increase, the economy will boost because those who are coming will spend money. It’s going to boost our economy and bolster the IGR of the state. They will spend, they are in a festival mood, they will engage in all sorts of activities that will make them spend money. When you get your people entertained, they see the reason they should be alive”.
