Bole Festival - Koko's review.

From experience, I've learnt that over-hyped events do not meet up to their expectations and Bole festival didn't disappoint; it was an over-hyped festival I wish I didn't have to pay 1500 naira for.

If you really want to know how an event is gonna play out, start from the entrance and observe.

I can't imagine why people would have tickets, but to enter the venue would be like the biblical needle that passes through the eye of a camel.

I practically had to possess an imaginary black belt in Karatake that I didn't have, just before I could be able to squeeze and shuffle through bodies that also had imaginary black belts in karate and other martial arts sports; that way, it became a fight of "na who get skill pass go fit enter."

It's crazy! People had to pass through a narrow door just to enter, when there was a wide gate that could have easily let people through. Must everything have to be stress in Nigeria? I mean, you hustle for money to buy tickets, and you still have to hustle to enter with that same ticket too!

Well, I finally entered the venue after I lost an arm and both eyes to people who had greater fighting skills than me.

Turns out that I was in for a long ride.

Let's say we were about a thousand people or a thousand five hundred people at the event when I came in, but I only saw about twenty mini canopies.

Now, the trick to this kind of event is that people are coming to eat, that's why it's themed "Bole Festival"

You shouldn't be eating while standing, especially when you're eating something as choky as bole and pepperish as the sauce used in eating it --- you have to sit down and concentrate on what you're eating.

It should be, when you're done eating, you can now go to where the other side attractions and fun would be.

But, what I saw was different. Families and friends who came early "Britained" the few chairs that were available and left the others to stand while eating. Even if you can't get plastic chairs, couldn't they have provided benches or make-shift chairs for people to sit down and eat?

Then, this is supposed to be a Bole thing. How come the Boles were sold at very expensive rates?!
Like, Bole and fish I was supposed to buy for 500 naira on a normal day, was sold to me for over a thousand and hundred naira!

The idea is too show your culture, but how can you show your culture when a good number of people present can't afford the food?

In occasions like New yam Festival, nobody buys yam! People come to eat food for free and still have fun!

I don't want to talk about the tickets, but for a hyped event like Bole festival, I don't think people had any business paying for tickets. Yeah, maybe VIPs, but regulars are supposed to be free.

Check out Star fest and the rest... If it's not free, the highest regular pay is 500 naira!

Yeah, I get the whole cost thing in putting the festival together, but that's where you need sponsors! Who was the major sponsor of the festival?

Which brings me to the sponsorship part. I saw someone who was drinking beer in a branded "Tiger Cup" and I asked him where I could get one.

He directed me to the place and surprisingly, it was very cheap! Heineken and Tiger Beer were selling for 200 naira! I asked the man to give me a cup and he told me I should better buy as much as I can now, that from 5:30 pm, they'd start selling at the rate of 500 naira.

True to his words, I came back by 5:30 and they told me the beer was 500 naira. I later got to find out that "Tiger" was actually one of the sponsors of the show.
Biko, as a sponsor, are you supposed to increase the price of your commodity when selling at an event you're sponsoring? I just don't understand it!

Forget people were dancing, but the DJ that played at the event was wack! Anyone who has been to a real party would tell you that. That energy wasn't there, apart from when he played soapy, which he had to be playing from time to time to get the crowd dancing.

Then, one FM presenter that was anchoring kept on repeating this putting "tion" at the end of a sentence jokes that I have heard almost every comedian crack before. Come on, you can do better than that!

Then, it's a very risky thing to do fixing a major event when there's heavy downpour of rain. Whoever was in charge of the rain yesterday must have been a good mood, because just one tap opening by 3pm would have ruined that event!

They said there was going to be games, but I could only see two tennis boards, one snake and ladders and a dart game... What happened to making these games readily available, so that enough people could participate in them?

Well, fun is relative though, because some people looked like they were having fun. But, fun could be tricky, especially when one has become used to a particular way of doing or seeing things --- they begin to think that's what fun is about until they go to other places.

Lest I forget, the only reason people seemed happy was because it was more of a reunion of old friends and nothing more. At least, that was why I was happy...

The event would have been above okay if yesterday was the first time it was happening... But it wasn't, so it was way below standard for something that hyped and had a big crowd in attendance.

By the way, the local artists in Portharcourt need to up their games. They can't go mainstream with what I heard yesterday.

See more pictures from the festival here. �

https://mp3global.net/news/bole-festival-a-critical-review/


©Kosi Ugo