LAGOS STATE RELEASES CALENDAR OF PROGRAMMES FOR ARTS, CULTURE
… Reiterates Commitment To Tourism Promotion All-Year Round
The Lagos State Government has released a calendar of over 70 State-sponsored and endorsed arts and culture programmes slated for the rest of this year in its bid to garner visibility for tourism-oriented art programmes.
The novel exercise, according to a release signed by the State’s Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, is designed to frontload public and privately driven arts, culture and entertainment events that will have a positive impact on tourism and the image of Lagos as an arts-friendly State.
“This initiative is in fulfilment of the State Government’s promise to announce a yearly calendar of events to guide programming, tourists and visitors’ decisions”, he stated.
According to Ayorinde, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, kick-started the year with his attendance at Ali Baba’s January 1st Comedy concert at Eko Hotel. Other arts and culture events held in January and February so far and included in the calendar are Angel and Muse, an art exhibition by a Lagos-trained world-renowned artist, Eebi; a month-long Indigenous Cultural Festival in Epe; Wazobia FM Carnival as well as the Lagos City Marathon amongst others.
“The idea of creating a calendar of events for State-sponsored and endorsed programmes is to make event planning, tour bookings and business decisions easier for tour operators and the general public”, he said.
The Commissioner asserted that “The State is forging ahead in expanding the consumption of its tourism products by improving access to tourism information and creating an events guide for the media and tour bloggers”.
Ayorinde said the present administration believes that the quantum of cash transactions across the tourism and entertainment value-chain estimated at N50 billion in 2017 is a testimony to the big economic gain that exists in promoting tourism in Lagos State.
He commended the various corporate sponsors that will make many of the events happen, adding that government aims to use the calendar and other strategic initiatives to enrich the entertainment and creative economy as an integral component of tourism promotion in Lagos.