The Bakassi Fish Festival mission is focused on projecting and promoting stories that glorifies the Bakassi area and has the potential to open international opportunities for the state as well as deepen the existing peace and unity in Cross River state. Frank Edima, the festival organizer expressed that, “Bakassi has been known for negative news headlines. We are set to rebrand and rebuild our community. After the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon, families lost their major source of living, fishing. We want to help our parents and young people to get back to their indigenous trade which is fishing. We are set to tell our own stories so we can pass down our heritage to the next generation and beyond.”
The second edition commences on Tuesday the 26th of September and runs to Wednesday the 27th of September 2023 and it would be hosted by the electrifying Nollywood Star and Nightlife Queen, Esther Whyte Bassey. Proudly from the Bakassi region herself, Esther is delighted to be a part of the festival and promises to serve the best of her hosting prowess.
With the theme, “Fishing, our heritage”, highlight of the two-day Bakassi International Fish Festival will include, capacity building, workshops to understand modern fishing business practices, drying, marketing and business skills development for fishermen as well as working in Bakassi’s trilateral area, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Nigeria borders within Cameroon and the Gulf of Guinea. There will also be cultural events, beach wrestling, soccer, beauty pageants and gala dinner. Edima added that, “In this edition, we want to flood the internet with beautiful photos of our culture and fishing heritage. Beautiful photos of our community, beyond what the internet currently knows.
Good news is, it’s now an international festival because we have gotten partnerships with Cameron and Equatorial Guinea. We desire to work with other countries around the Gulf of Guinea to drive this message.”