Oronna festival will position Ilaro on world stage

The annual Oronna Day celebration which has been re-christened as Oronna Ilaro Festival has promised to place the town of Ilaro in Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State on world tourism map.Disclosing this at a press conference heralding the 2012 celebration was the Chairman, Central Planning Committee, Chief Kayode Odunaro, who said that this year's celebration would be a shiftfrom what it used to be in the past.Odunaro said that the Oronna Ilaro Festival would bring about positive possibilities not only for Ilaro town or Yewaland, but also for Ogun State and, indeed, Nigeria.He added that the festival was a unifying annual socio-cultural event by the people in pursuit of their cultural tradition and a platform for self help initiatives to develop the community.The festival, tagged; "Festival of New Beginning," according to Odunaro, will not only add value to its socio-cultural tradition, but also elevate it to standard of tourism event on the national toursim calendar.He identified positioning of Ilaro on a world stage; encouraging the view that Ilaro town as a rewarding tourist destination; bring Ilaro sons and daughters home during the celebrations; collaboration with the state government in its effort to develop tourism potentials of the state; to showcase the growth and development of Ilaro town socially, structurally and economically and identification of talents for further development, as some of the objectives of the festival.Activities lined up for the one-week event are: street carnival/ road show all over Ilaro township on Saturday, November 25; tribute to Oronna and other dieties in Ilaro the following Monday, medical check-up, 50km festival race and Egungun dance and traditional Efe dance ceremony.Other activities include Gelede display and Sisi Ilaro beauty pageant on Wednesday, November 28; street jams/talent hunt and clubs and association day on Thursday, November 29.Jumat service and award day/ royal dinner will hold on Friday, November 30, while Onigba-Aje cultural ceremony and grand finale and closing ceremony comes up on Saturday, Decemeber 1.Thanksgiving service will also come up on Sunday, December 2 at the Cathedral Church, Ilaro.
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