Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
The Nigerian Cultural festival 2022 was as great success. The event which was organised by the Yoruba community in Austria “Egbe Omo Oduduwa Austria” through one of her subsidiaries called Festival of Music, Art, and Culture (FESTMAC) was the 5th of its kind.
According to Engr Oluyemi Ogundele, the first edition of the event took place in Vienna in the summer of 2013, then we had another one in 2016, 2018 and a virtual celebration in the summer of 2020 due to covid-19 restrictions.
This year’s celebration was second to none, the appearance and support of dignitaries like Ambassador Dr Suleiman Dauda Umar, the Nigerian Ambassador to Austria and Slovakia, Ambassador Thomas Schlesinger, the Austrian Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Modupe Irele, Nigerian Ambassador to Hungary, His Royal Majesty Oba Abdulazeez Oluwatoyin Akinde (Oloja Ekun of Igbesa Awori land, Ogun State of Nigeria) Nollywood super start Lateef Adedimeji and his wife Mobimpe, Dr Dayo Olomu and his wife all the way from United kingdom, Professor (Dr) Oluwatoyin Odutola of the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA and many other VIPs made a great difference.
The event which was organised in collaborative with the Nigerian Embassy in Vienna, Austrian Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria and Weltmuseum Wien started with exhibition of made in Nigeria products and Adire fabric market form the 20th of June to the 25th of June 2022. The exhibition was not optimal due to lack of exhibitors, this was caused by visa constrains.
The event was planned to foster the friendly relationship between Nigeria and our host country Austria and to promote the cultural heritage of our great country Nigeria as well as presenting Nigeria as a truism destination.
The highlight of the event was the Adire International carnival also called Nigerian carnival. This year carnival was tagged the “Carnival of Peace and Unity”
The Carnival parade which commenced in front of the Nigerian Embassy in the third district of Vienna and passes through Rennweg street, Schwarzenberg square and the Vienna ring road in the city centre of Vienna terminated in Hoffburg in front of the Welt Museum Vienna near the office of the Austrian President.
The second leg of the event was the indoor program which took-place in the big ceremonial hall of the Welt Museum Wien, it was declared open by Minster Ibrahim Hamidu of the Nigerian Embassy Vienna who was standing in for the Nigerian Ambassador Dr Suleiman Dauda Umar who was unavoidable absent. Next was a welcoming address by the director of the Weltmuseum Wien Dr Johnathan Fine. The goodwill messages were delivered by Ambassador Modupe Irele, Nigerian Ambassador to Hungary and Dr Dayo Olumu from United Kingdom.
The guest was entertained by the Kenya flex group with their acrobatic performers and the Yoruba Cultural trope with their Eyo and Egungun masquerade dance. The European Fuji Ambassador Alhaji Mutiu Ishola also made a short performance while singing for the masquerade. The highlight of the evening was the stage performance by the Nollywood start Lateef Adedimeji who performed the music of the legend Alhaji Ayinla Omowora live on stage.
The event closed with the Nigerian national anthem.
