The end of year festivities have entered a high gear for over 20 million Lagos residents as the much anticipated One Lagos Fiesta (OLF) kicked off on Saturday, with data grandmasters, Globacom as a prime sponsor and exclusive telecoms partner.
OLF is an initiative introduced last year by the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to replace the Lagos Countdown. It’s a vivacious celebration of the end of the year and colourful transition into the New Year.
Lagos State has promised to make this edition bigger and bolder, with dozens of A-list music artistes penned down to thrill fun seekers at 40 concerts in five centres across the state.
Nigeria’s frontline telecommunications company, Globacom, which is a major sponsor of the initiative for the second consecutive year, has already created special fun spots for Lagos residents at all the five OLF centres in Ikeja, Ikorodu, Epe, Badagry and Lagos Island. Among the activities lined up by Globacom to spice this year’s shows are comedy nights, celebrity visits and games.
Globacom in a statement assures Lagos residents of first-class entertainment for all categories of revellers visiting its stands this year. Facilities for games and other types of entertainment have already been arranged by the company for the 8-day event.
One Lagos Fiesta runs daily from 12 midday to 12 midnight from December 24th to January 1st, with the first six hours of each day dedicated to entertainment for children and the young at heart. Adult fun seekers take the centre stage in the evening when they can expect to be treated to the best of musical entertainment, cultural displays, comedy and cuisine from Lagos State.
One of the innovations in OLF this year is a grassroots competition tagged ‘Lagos Has Got Talent’, which is aimed at throwing up new stars from various genres of entertainment ranging from music to dance and rap, among others.
Already, auditions have been held across the five locations, wherein 50 successful candidates have emerged from the zones. They are to trade tackles with each other,culminating in the emergence of two finalists from each of the zones by December 30. The last 10 standing will compete at the grand finale of OLF at the Eko Atlantic stage on the last day of the year. Three winners will emerge and will be rewarded handsomely.
Another refreshing twist in this year’s edition is that the show is lasting eight days unlike last year when it lasted five days.
Also, artistes expected are from more genres this year unlike last year when most of the artistes came from the hip-hop genre.
According to the organisers, the artistes expected this year include King Sunny Ade, Chief Ebenezer Obey, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal (Kwam 1), Sir Shina Peters, Queen Salawa Abeni, Lagbaja, Adewale Ayuba, Abass Akande Obesere and Sulaimon Adio Atawewe.
Others are Olamide, Phyno, Tiwa Savage, 2Face, M1, Kiss Daniel, Reminisce, Falz, Adekunle Gold, Yemi Alade, Seyi Shay, Pato Ranking, Humble Smith and Techno, among others.