Calabar Carnival, also known as "Africa's Biggest Street Party" or the "Pride of Nigeria", is an annual carnival held in Cross River State, Nigeria. The carnival holds every December and was declared by the then governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke as an activity to mark Christmas celebration yearly. He said his vision for creating the festival was to make Cross-River a home of tourism and hospitality in Nigeria and Africa. The quality of the festival has grown over the years making it Nigeria's biggest carnival and an internationally recognized festival. It used to be a month-long event that began on the 1st of December, until the current governor of the state, Benedict Ayade reduced it to two weeks after he was elected. During the 2017 carnival, Governor Benedict Ayade said in his speech that the carnival is to showcase Africa as the richest continent and a blessed place where the young ones should be proud to belong. The carnival has always been entertaining and colorful as different competitions take place and huge cash prizes are won. Calabar which is also known by the name Canaan City, is a city in south-eastern Nigeria. Calabar is actually the capital city of Cross River State. Calabar sits adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa Rivers as well as the creeks of the Cross River. History The Calabar Carnival started in 2004 by Governor Donald Duke of Cross River, as a way to promote tourism and improve the local economy. According to Osima-Dokubo, "the carnival aimed to include more aspects of local heritage and culture and at the same time strengthen the capacity of the locals to participate in an economically beneficial way." Programmes The programme is drafted each year by the committee in charge of tourism and cultural activities and new initiatives are introduced with different topics chosen to drive the carnival. In December 2009, the Carnival Committee organized "Carnival Cup 2009", a football competition among the five competing carnival bands - Seagull, Passion 4, Masta Blasta, Bayside and Freedom. These bands are distinguished by their colors; The Seagull is the Red band and is known as the most stylish and coordinated band, Passion 4 is the Green band and is known as the most successful band, Masta Blasta is the orange and largest band, Bayside is the Blue band, and Freedom is the Yellow band. The Festival also includes