The 2024 Gastronomy Festival, organized by the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), was held on Friday, May 31, at the A-Class Park in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja.
The event attracted participants from Nigeria, the People’s Republic of China, Spain, and several other countries showcasing their traditional cuisines and cultures.
In his welcome address, Nura Sani Kangiwa, Director-General of NIHOTOUR said the 2024 Gastronomy Festival with the theme “Sustainable Food Production from Farm to Table” is aimed at raising awareness about responsible eating, sustainable food production practices, food production and food preservation.
“Everyone loves to have a taste of good foods that tantalizes their taste buds, but they don’t actually know where the food came from, and they don’t even care to know whether the food they eat has any consequence to the planet we live in,” he said.
Mr Kangiwa stressed that the festival also provides a platform for cultural exchange and peaceful coexistence, with attendees from various geopolitical zones of Nigeria, the Chinese, and Spaniards, all sharing a common interest in the culinary arts.
In his goodwill remarks, Li Xuda, Cultural Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria said China and Nigeria are well known for their splendid culture and have so many similarities in many fields, including the field of gastronomy.
He noted that the Chinese Embassy has been a proud partner of the NIHOTOUR Gastronomy Festival since its inception in 2021, expressing his delight at the festival’s growth, which has attracted visitors and tourists from China, Spain, Senegal, Congo DR, Trinidad and Tobago, and others.
Declaring the festival open, Minister of Tourism, Nigeria’s Minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John, represented by her special assistant, Jibeka Teniola, said the Gastronomy Festival – the foremost food festival in Nigeria, brings together people from diverse parts of the country to exhibit the different kinds of food available in the country.
She stated that Nigeria is so blessed with so many different kinds of menus and the festival presents the best opportunity for “us to exhibit to the world what we have.”
The event featured the exhibition of different traditional cuisines, and cultural items from Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, Spain, and other participating countries.
The festival ended with a Gala/Investiture dinner where prizes were awarded to winners of the cooking competition and prestigious fellowship of the Institute conferred on individuals and organizations that have distinguished themselves and contributed greatly to the promotion, growth and development of the Tourism and Hospitality industry of the country.
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