The first food festival in the South-south region of the country is set to debut in Calabar, the Cross River State Capital.
The General Manager of Chorus Limited, the organizers of the event code named, "Calabar Food and Drink Festival", Mr Anointed Enoh disclosed this on Tuesday to newsmen in Calabar.
Enoh, who said that the event will last for three days starting from Saturday 26 to Monday 28 of March at the popular Municipal Garden added that, celebrity chefs like Bilal Jamal amongst others will participate in the event.
While explaining the purpose of the exhibition, he said that Calabar is renowned globally for having a strong food culture hence, it was necessary to organise such events to give Nigeria foods international recognition.
He added that Cross River State was selected among other states in the region for it tourism potential even as he expressed excitement that some government agencies have keyed into the idea as a way of boosting the tourism drive of the current administration.
According to him, "Responding to a lack of quality family entertainment, in Calabar over the Easter weekend, the organisers of Calabar Food and Drink Festival decided to stage their first event during the prime holiday period.
"The city is already renowned nationwide for its fascinating food, so it made sense to make cuisine the major focus of this family-friendly, three-day event."
Earlier, the former tourism consultant to Cross River State government, who is now a consultant to the company, Mr Michael Williams, said that it was important in a consumer driven economy like Nigeria to domesticate production and consumable goods.
He lamented that within his years in Nigeria, he has noticed regrettably that Nigerians have insatiable appetite for foreign products; including dishes, a development he said has a negative effects on the economy.
"It is important for a consumer driven economy for us to produce our foods locally. So many persons still see foreign dishes like things that we should still pursue but the truth is that food is food; the difference is in the presentation.
"So, this event is special to us because we try to present something creative and professionally that would be accepted internationally. We are interested in creating something that will accommodate all ages," he said.
He added that, "The ultimate thing is to take the Nigeria dishes to international front to a point where when you have any international foods, you will see Nigeria food there anywhere in the world".