KALABARI RETURNED TO FIRST PLACE ON SATURDAY 15TH 2025

The Kalabari Ethnic Nationality maked history yesterday Saturday the 15th if November 2025, as it celebrated it's  annual New Year activities jointly for the second time after centuries of breaking into several  Communities across  Rivers State.

Also, notable in the return of the whole Communities to Elem-Kalabari, their ancestral land, to perform a sacred festival together  for the first time as a show of their unity and resolve to return to the front as a people.

The Kalabari New Year Festival that ushers in the blessings of the year 2026, ahead of other ethnic groups in Nigeria started on Thursday with an arts exhibition in Port Harcourt and was crowned with grand performances by cultural and contemporary groups from across the Kalabari land, where the world converged and enjoyed the wonders and unique abilities of the Kalabari people.

The venue for the New Year Festival, Elem-Kalabari, attracted tourists and dignitaries across the world because of its serene location, the famous ancestral well with healing powers, the development of the blue economy in the area, among others.

To facilitate a grand celebration, transportation was provided at no cost to the passenger in Abonnema Wharf- Port Harcourt, Bakana, Abonnema for visitors, while houseboats were made available for selected people.

According to a statement from the organisers of the Kalabari New Year Festival, the  Kalabari Renaissance Foundation, the Kalabaris are naturally placed where they must rise early to survive, adding that, the prominence of the Kalabari people is annually reinforced with the new year festivals in all Kalabari communities.

According to the statement signed by the Chairman of the organisers, Mr. Harry Awolayeofori Macmorrison, Kalabari, is one of the foremost Ijaw groups that has all it takes to occupy a place on the tourism calendar of Nigeria.

Among dignitaries at Elem Kalabari were representatives from Rivers and Bayelsa State, leaders of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), and delegates from the US and the UK.