My Nigerian Flavours 2018 Experience

Last Saturday, I attended Nigerian flavours 2018. The event is an initiative of tour Nigeria aimed at promoting food tourism through diverse Nigerian delicacies. It took place at Harrow park, Wuse 2 in Abuja. 

March 17 had lots of events including some clothing line store launch that the invite still makes me laugh out loud. It’s so crazy how some PR firms invite you to an event with a long list of things required of you (the blogger) but when it comes to compensation or pay, they say “unfortunately, they don’t have sufficient budget for your blogger service”.

So, basically these PR firms get paid to do their work but want you to spend your money and time then work for free with some hilarious demands and terms afterwards. I’ve learnt my lesson with such Abuja brands and their invites for free work. 

Documenting my experience at events or shows that I attended is a personal decision but inviting me to attend as a blogger with requirements is a job. Time is money, can’t even fake this type because it cheapens one’s brand and the ‘free’ invites will keep coming meanwhile other bloggers are getting paid for same event under your nose.

I just had to put how I feel out there. Back to the reason for this post. Missing the food expo was enough reason not to miss Nigerian flavours 2018. I saw food on the flyer before I even got to see the list of performing artistes. Food shows/exhibitions and such are a great way to discover more places to eat and variety of food and drink options.

The Nigerian flavours 2018 event was supposed to start at 12 noon but trust African time to set in as usual. I actually didn’t mind this time around because the Abuja sun is not your mate. It’s beginning to feel like we are sharing a very short fence with hellfire. I got to the venue a few minutes to 4pm. 

One of the reasons for going at that time was to have daylight blog photos. I knew non of the artistes would actually perform during the daytime. Who would enjoy the show under that hot sun anyways. I totally enjoyed myself and here’s how the event went for me.

My Nigerian Flavours 2018 Experience

I saw the flyer on my Instagram feed less than 2 weeks ago and that was my first time of hearing about Nigerian flavours. I checked out their official Instagram page but it had more of promotional flyers than previous event photos. A quick hashtag search didn’t reveal much either.

For any event I want to attend, I like to see photos from previous attendees to help me decide if it’s an event I want to attend or not. I decided to go regardless and invited a couple of my colleagues instead of 1 person so that i won’t go alone like Fusion lifestyle from the previous week. It’s kind of boring attending events alone especially in Abuja. 

I bought my ticket online for 2k some days to the event because at the gate was going to be 3k as stated on the flyer. 1k can buy something and/or even pay for transport. Getting the tag at the gate with my online ticket was as easy a barcode scan.

Few minutes after I came into the park, just as I found one of my colleagues who was already there; 2 journalists approached me for an interview especially because of my outfit. Oh how I hate audio and video interviews, lol. Farida encouraged me and before I knew it, the interview was over. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon checking out vendors, taking photos and just enjoying the atmosphere. These photos were taken by @ch1dy of Jokwa images, an upcoming photographer who also happens to be a medical doctor.

I was a bit disappointed that there weren’t a lot of Nigerian food options at the event at the time I wanted to eat. Roasted yam, plantain and such because Nigerian food goes beyond meat. It was more of vendor display than it was about food display. Farida and I got Asun and it was all fun and nice till the pepper set in. 

Prior to finding the asun, I was looking for fresh drinks & smoothies so, we passed by various stands but saw the asun spot first. The pepper hastened our search and we eventually found drinks from cocktails and shakes.

While I like to spend money on good food, I’m also very reasonable when it comes to prices matching quality especially in an environment with different price options. This was one of the reasons I didn’t waste time at Traffic’s stand. Their chapman was over 2k. While I didn’t taste it, I’ve had less than 1k chapman from different places to decide not to spend 2k on a cup of chapman at a place with other options. 

After waiting till about 7pm and no performances yet, Farida and Chidi decided they wanted to go eat outside and return. I wasn’t about to stay there alone so, I left with them while secretly wishing we don’t miss any of the performances by the time we get back.

We spent about an hour before returning to the event. The wait for the performances didn’t feel long anymore. Subsequently, the performances began and if you’re following me on Instagram you would have seen loads of videos on my insta stories. 

Some of the artistes were Idyl (winner of the voice Nigeria 2017), Dice Ailes, Korede Bello, Reekado Banks, Terry Apala, CDQ but the highlight for me was Don jazzy and Dbanj performing together on the same stage. Don jazzy didn’t spend time on the stage before letting Dbanj continue alone.

While the wait for the performances took forever because of the time they advertised, it was totally worth it at the end. I was at the show till the end towards midnight. Good thing Wuse 2 isn’t far from Maitama.

Cost breakdown
Ticket: 2000 (online)
Taxify: 700
Asun: 500
Drink: 500
Total: 3700 naira

I’m looking forward to attending more events, discovering more places and meeting more fun people. Can you guess the next fun event I’ll be attending? There’s a clue in my photos 😉

My Ankara trouser was previously seen on the blog with the long sleeveless jacket in this outfit post.

Were you at the Nigerian flavours 2018 event? What type of events do you like to attend?

*Photos taken by Chidi of Jokwa Images and Edited by me.

Thanks for stopping by as usual, till my next post.
xx

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