Admin l Wednesday, September 13, 2017
LAGOS, Nigeria – Garri is a staple food in Nigeria and many communities in West Africa. For as long as anybody wishes to remember, garri prepared as eba and eaten with various kinds of soup has kept the people in great strength for farming, hunting, wrestling as well as other energy-sapping engagements.
Inspire of its significant role in serving as regular meal, garri is not celebrated like other foods like rice at almost every get-to-gether.
But a new dimension of celebrating garri will be showcased on September 30, 2017 at an event dubbed the Great Garri Hangout scheduled to hold in Coutonu, the capital of Benin Republic. The Great Garri project is the brainchild of travelling photographer, documentary maker, movie director and singer, Alexis Onome Eboughe with the support of Eldorado Private Beach, Coutonu.
Alexis revealed in a chat that the event would present garri like never before in an atmosphere of conviviality and camaradire to be provided by Eldorado Private Beach venue of the unprecedented show.
Apart from presenting garri in the familiar water-soaked form with sugar or salt and groundnuts to be lapped with spoon, the Great Garri Hangout will have as its components, a mini fashion show by International Couturier, Paris-based Beninuoise, Abdoulaye Sadji, some Beninoise cultural acts and one up and coming artiste from Benin who will be on hand to lift the proceedings with their performances.
Above all, Nigeria’s veteran singer, Stella Monye has declared her intention to support the project by performing at the show, Alexis informed, just as he added: “Yinka Davies is coming to support me.
“Efe Warriboy, the guy that was a recent winner of A.Y.’s comedy talent show, is performing”.
Alexis also explained that the Great Garri Hangout is designed to encourage as well as promote tourism around Africa, adding that the experience would be used in shrinking cultural devides among the people.
Said he: “Yes, the idea is to encourage tourism around Africa, using the experience to further foster African unity through lowering cultural divides.
“We will have a representative of the Benin Minister of Culture in attendance, if he (the minister) cannot make it”.
According to him, the event which is making its debut in Coutonu September 30, will be a continuous affair as he had already been prevailed upon to stage one in Nigeria, pointing out that one was being worked on for Lagos at October’s ending.
On the annual status of the Great Garri Hangout, Alexis explained: “Yes, it has come to stay, as a yearly event. Next year, the event will hold in Nigeria, Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana. All one week apart from each other.
“Next year, the scope of the Hangout will increase to festival status, with new additions to the menu and fun programming”.
Although, he described the Great Garri Hangout as “a garri buffet”, Alexis maintained that “there will be several meat dishes, fish recipes, kuli-kuli, groundnut, suya, kilichi, special fried beans dishes etc, as accompaniments to the drinking garri”.
