By Mabinty M.Kamara
The National Youth Commission (NYCOM) Sierra Leone, in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Affairs, the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, and the Foundation for Arts, Culture and Entertainment is set to convene the first ever carnival, dubbed: ‘Back to my route.’
The carnival which is slated to take place from December 26 to 29, according to Millicent Kargbo, Communications Officer at the National Youth Commission, is to support the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs to showcase the culture, tradition and food of Sierra Leone. She told journalists at the weekly press conference of the Ministry of Information and Communication that the carnival will also show what the youths of Sierra Leone can do in terms of entertainment and craftsmanship.
Ms Kargbo said the carnival will also bring Sierra Leoneans together, including youths who have for long time been set apart for various reasons, to celebrate in peace and harmony regardless of political, social, and regional backgrounds.
“We want to support the Ministry of Tourism to see how we can put mechanisms in place to support their strive towards packaging and promoting our cultural identity as a country. We also want to create social cohesion through entertainment and to showcase the talent of our young people. We have young people who are into fashion, music and other forms of arts and craft and we also want to sell Sierra Leone as this is a festive season. We have lots of visitors coming in, some for the first time. So we want to leave with them a memory of Sierra Leone that cannot be forgotten in a hurry,” she explained.
The event will be climaxed with an Africana show, where everybody would be required to dress in their various Sierra Leonean attires. Kargbo said this is important to bring back people from the forgotten memories of who they were before globalization and the advent of social media that has had the best of them, leading to the adoption of western ways of dressing.
The Back to my roots carnival will be held at the Kallon Car Park, along the Aberdeen Lumley Beach, and it will be graced by Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh as the Grand Chief Patron.
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