The Bole Festival, which started with about 300 people gathered around a fire in Port Harcourt to celebrate bole and fish, is now looking beyond Nigeria as it enters its second decade.
The festival marked its 10th anniversary with a three-day celebration in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with organisers saying the next phase will focus on expanding its presence across Nigeria and into other African markets.
The anniversary edition, themed ‘Power of X’, was designed to celebrate the collaborations that have helped the festival grow over the past decade while signalling what organisers described as new and largely unexplored opportunities for the years ahead.
The expansion ambition marks a significant shift for an event that began in 2016 as a gathering centred on a popular Port Harcourt delicacy but has since developed into a platform combining food, music, entertainment and culture.
The organisers said the festival now brings together bole vendors, hosts, sponsors, partners, performers, volunteers and its core team, reflecting the wider ecosystem that has developed around the event.
From local delicacy to cultural platform
Bole, a roasted plantain dish commonly served with grilled fish, is deeply associated with Port Harcourt and the Niger Delta. The festival built its identity around the food, using it as an entry point to create a broader cultural and entertainment experience.
What began as a relatively small gathering has evolved into a three-day event featuring music performances, sponsor activations, giveaways and cultural displays.
The festival was interrupted in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic but returned the following year. According to the organisers, its audience doubled from the level recorded at the 2019 edition after its return.
The growth has also attracted corporate sponsors, with International Breweries, Moniepoint, Pernod Ricard, Red Bull and Trashcoin among companies supporting the 10th anniversary edition.
For the organisers, the increasing involvement of brands points to the festival’s development beyond a food event into a platform capable of connecting consumers, businesses, performers and cultural communities.
The ‘Power of X’ theme was intended to capture that evolution, with the X representing the collaborations that have contributed to the festival’s growth and the possibilities still ahead.
Building a bigger experience
The 10th anniversary programme was structured around three different experiences.
The opening day focused on reggae and old-school music, while the second day centred on soul and contemporary vibes. The final day was dedicated to the anniversary celebration.
Performers across the three days included Timaya, Duncan Mighty, Faze, Peruzzi, 1Da Banton, Beri Tigga, Dan Dizzy, Mavo, Guchi, EF Moon and Carter Efe.
Savy Henry, Johnny Drille and Magixx also performed during the second day, while Terry G and a reggae band featured on the opening day.
The programme also incorporated cultural elements. Wizard Chan performed with his signature masquerade, adding a traditional dimension to an event that has increasingly blended local culture with contemporary entertainment.
The anniversary also featured a ‘Power of X’ ceremony, which organisers said was streamed on the festival’s YouTube page.
The bigger question for the festival now is whether a concept built around a distinctly Port Harcourt food tradition can be replicated across different Nigerian cities and eventually other African markets.
The organisers said they were already positioning the festival for a wider presence across Nigeria and Africa, with the next phase expected to introduce what they described as a new experience that the region has yet to see.
That ambition puts the festival in a growing market of African cultural and entertainment events seeking to turn local experiences into scalable platforms.
For Bole Festival, however, the expansion strategy is rooted in the identity it has built over the past decade.
The organisers said the 10-year milestone represents the growth of a platform built around food, music and culture and one that is increasingly positioning itself as a destination for families, friends, vendors and performers.
The challenge in the next decade will be maintaining that identity while taking the experience beyond the environment that gave it birth.
From its first gathering of about 300 people around a fire in 2016, the festival is now seeking to turn a Port Harcourt cultural experience into a wider African proposition.
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