The 2024 Calabar Festival themed “Our Shared Prosperity” was a spectacular celebration of Calabar’s rich culture and heritage. Lasting for 32 days, the festival featured events like the Christmas Tree Lighting, Carnival Calabar Dry Run, Calabar Food Festival, and the iconic Carnival Calabar Parade of the Bands.
The festival attracted an estimated 150,000 visitors in December 2024, with 89% arriving by road, 7% by air, and 4% via sea routes. Compared to 2023, when 62,512 visitors attended, the 2024 numbers reflect a 42% increase. Visitors spent an estimated N8.875 billion on transportation to the destination, compared to N3.1 billion in 2023.
Calabar International Airport recorded over 10,000 inbound passengers between November 1st and December 29th, 2024, a 34% increase from the 7,452 passengers recorded in 2023. Of these, 79% were visiting from other Nigerian states, while 3% were diaspora visitors, primarily for leisure and the Carnival.
The festival welcomed visitors from Akwa Ibom, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abia, FCT, Enugu, Cameroon, UK, Canada, and Equatorial Guinea. An estimated 450,000 onsite spectators enjoyed key events like the Cultural Carnival, Children’s Carnival, and Bikers Carnival, compared to 279,486 spectators in 2023. Moreover, over 1.2 billion global viewers watched the festival events on DSTV, with an additional 100 million live online streaming viewers.
