HARNESSING AWKA TRADITIONAL FESTIVAL FOR TOURISM PROMOTION (Published)
Awka traditional festivals embrace diverse cultural activities which together portrays the glamour of the community indigenous way of life. These festivals are the anvil on which cultural unity is forged as its celebrations acts as a unifying force which binds the people together. Festivals are momentary occasions for merriment seasoned with a purpose attached to different aspects of a community life. It is a period of rest from strenuous daily activities affording the people quality leisure time to consume all the entertaining cultural aesthetics of the event. Of a truth, Awka traditional festival with its associated cultural display has been a platform that sustained cultural uniformity amongst Awka people and its neighbour through ages. This paper in its descriptive nature endeavours to investigate the potential of harnessing the cultural aesthetics of Awka traditional festival (Imoka) for promote tourism.
Keywords: Cultural Aesthetics, Culture, Tourism, Traditional Festival