Mare: Celebrating heritage, culture for ecotourism
Kunle Ajayi
Senior Photojournalist
The 2011 edition of Mare Festival is believed to have set a new standard since its inception three years ago.
It also brought to the fore the innovative zeal of the Ondo State government to re-brand the festival annually in consonance with international standards.
It is noteworthy that the state government has not failed in adding new attractions that will keep luring tourists and sports people to the ancient town of Idanre, the host of wonderful landscape that gave birth to the festival.
Mare is a mountain climbing festival that was conceptualised from Yoruba parlance Mare bo, meaning “don’t fall.” Though rock climbing remains the core event of the festival, this year has combination of marathon race, arts and cultural fiesta, exhibition and entertainment, a unique combination that is positioning Idanre as a hub of ecotourism destination for visitors from within and outside the country.
Revellers at this year edition were treated to the rich cultural heritage of the people of Ondo State with various cultural performances from different Local Government troupes across the state. There were special performances from renowned Yoruba actors and actresses including Sunday Omobolanle (Aluwe), Taiwo Hassan (Ogogo), Funsho Adeolu, Abolore Akande (9ice), Shaeed Balogun and host of others. The old school folks’ rendition from master storyteller, Jimi Sholake, struck a chord with the people as the ancient town of Idanre moved from celebration to celebration. Solanke’s performance was another unforgettable session at the opening ceremony of Mare festival.
Declaring the festival open, the state governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, acknowledged it was a night of entertainment and there was no better ways to kick-start a festival. According to him the rocky nature of Idanre was purposely created by God to engrave the town in the global map. “When God decided to put the ancient city and created this beautiful serene, am sure is for a purpose. Our prayer is that in fullness of time Idanre will become an icon city globally and the whole world will come to celebrate with us in this city. For us, Mare is symbolic. Let me welcome you to 2011 Mare festival, to traditional city of Idanre and Sunshine State. Mare is about mountain climbing, setting new height, is about diligent, is about resilience, and is about new Ondo State, a state that will be a benchmark not only for Nigeria but for entire Africa,” Mimiko stated.
The governor restated that he would not rest on his oars until the town is listed as one of the UNESCO’s World Heritage sites. He said the state efforts were all and encompassing and the results were visible in other sectors. “Permit me to say that Ondo State human resource per capital we are number one. We have empirical evidence for this, Nigeria Merit Award has 60 awardees from inception and 10 of them have come from Ondo State. Talk of sports; our Sunshine Star Football Club recorded a new height by coming second in the national league and third at the continental championship. Also, in just concluded Abuja Cultural Carnival, our Troupe came first. Mare has come to stay and very soon it will be listed on the UNESCO World Heritage map,” the governor promised.
Mare is not only about jamboree but also about discovering and developing talents. This year half-marathon recorded a new record. The race was completed in one hour six minutes compared to last year completed on an hour fifteen minutes. Interestingly the last year winner, Stephen Juba from Plateau State, though beat his previous record by seven minutes, was relegated to second position by Christopher from Bornu State while the third position went to Gyang who finished in a record time of an hour and nine minutes. Stephen went home with $1,500, Christopher with $1,000 and Gyang with $750. In the female category, an Ondo State lady, Agidi Omoyemi, came first with a prize of $1,000 followed by Kingsley Asedo from Edo State with $750, while James Dung went home with $500 having come third.
The mountain climbing competition was mainly for young Nigerians. It is believed to have the potential to unlock the hidden potentials of young Nigerians towards professional climbing. The invitation that attracted five professionals from South Africa and three from Spain served a dual purpose. It was designed to invite the professionals as trainers and mentors to the young climbers and to also have them participate in the professional climbing category. The grand finale, rock climbing was an adventure in its entirety. It was worth the waiting as apprehension and excitement took the part of tourists who waited to witness it. Everybody was eager to see how the con-like rock, Ojimaba, would be climbed and who would conquer the Idanre Mountain.
Just as the governor said at the opening ceremony of the festival that Mare was about daring, achieving a new height, an adventure to conquer, those who watched the climbing had no course to say ‘had I know’. It worth the waiting and it turned out an adventure filled with fun. At the entrance of Idanre, one will see the wonder performed by the climbers; a Nigeria National flag hoisted on top of the climbed mountain.
At the end of climbing competition where nine boys and three girls displayed their skills, Akinseye Temidayo emerged winner while Oluwashina Stephen and Akingboye Cynthia came second and third respectively. In the professional category, James Smith went home with $6,000 having emerged winner of the contest. The runner up prize of $4,000, was grabbed by Brain Weaver while Morijus Smigelshis came third with a cash prize of $2,000.
Those who could neither run nor climb were not left out of the fortunes provided at Mare. The raffle draw during the festival was a life changer for some of the attendees. A street hawker, 28 years old woman, Afiat Aminu confessed that fortune smiled her way after she won to herself a refrigerator and N350, 000 cash from the raffle. Rafiat, a mother of three from Kwara State, and a school girl, Bosede, from St. Joseph Catholic Grammar School, Idanre, won a refrigerator each, while Mr. Akintaju Ifedayo from Ondo West Local Government Area rode home a new motorcycle.
The festival allows visitor to know more about Idanre and climb its landscape. “It is fun climbing the mountain. This is my third time, my children insisted they wanted to witness Mare and climb Idanre hill. They are so curious to feel the wonderful nature of the hill. There are so many interesting things on this mountain. We were at the ‘wonderful stone’ and it was surprising how such a massive stone was resting on a very small base. It shows wonders of God. The beauty of the mountain is that the old structures like ancient Owa of Idanre Palace, old School and others are still kept alive, perhaps for telltale like on this special occasion. The various regions in the low land are obtainable on the mountain there is Irowo, Idale, Isalu and others,’’ said one Mr. Emmanuel.
Master Ayotunde Michael, one of the pupils of Cornerstone School, Ijoka, Akure, who came on excursion said it was delighted visiting the landscape. He was impressed with the topography, fresh air on the mountain and the preserved antiquities in the old palace.
The festival was no doubt a booster to the economy of the town and the state fro duration of the festival. All the hotels were booked and artefacts were on high demand. It is believed that with the huge traffic the festival is attracting to Idanre, more hotels should be built in Idanre, so that the tourists can stay closer to the scene of the festival rather than coming all the way from Akure, the state capital. More so, they should be on web to allow tourists search and make reservations from all over the world. In real sense, the hotels need not be too expensive ones. They could be hotels that will be decent and affordable for the backpackers who are the most visitors to tourist site.
The 2011 edition of Mare Festival, which came to a close on Saturday December 17, was the third of its series and had proved itself a window of opportunity for both socio-economic and cultural development of the host town, state and the country as a whole.
