The 5th Kanilai International Cultural Festival ended Saturday evening in Kanilai, the birthplace of the brainchild of the initiative, The Gambian leader, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh.

The closing ceremony was graced by President Jammeh himself, the vice president and minister of Women's Affairs, Her Excellency Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, cabinet ministers, National Assembly members, foreign resident diplomats and a cross-section of Gambians and non-Gambians. The festival, which started on May 22nd, was characterised by cultural displays by various cultural troupes within and outside The Gambia, thus creating the platform for cultural exchanges and understanding amongst the thousands of participants. The biennial event is meant among other things, to revive, preserve, promote and showcase diverse cultural heritage as well as contribute to the promotion, maintenance and sustenance of international peace and integration through culture. 

This year's event was described as successful and it brought together thousands of participants of diverse backgrounds and cultures within and outside the country. An impressive total number of 12 countries participated in this year's event namely; the Republics of Senegal, Mali, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana, Mauritania, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, the Kingdom of Morocco, the Republic of China on Taiwan, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the host, The Gambia.

The festival showcased every facet of culture and arts ranging from actual culture, mystical power demonstrations, dance, music and drama, amongst a host of others. Declaring the event closed on behalf of President Jammeh, Vice President Njie-Saidy thanked the Gambian leader for the initiative, reminding the gathering that he [President Jammeh] is the chief sponsor and organiser of the festival. She also thanked all those from within and outside the country who participated in the event.

Vice President Njie-saidy went on to explain the importance President Jammeh attaches to culture. She said: "The president has given dignity to culture just like he has given dignity to agriculture and farming. Today, everybody wants to be a farmer and as a result everybody wants to be a custodian of culture as well. What would a society be like without culture and tradition, without norms and values? A people without a culture, norms and values, a way of life, are a lost people but thank God, in Africa, we have not lost our history neither have we lost our culture thanks to President Jammeh's leadership."

She then lauded President Jammeh's visionary leadership, describing him as not only a Gambian leader and a pan-Africanist, but a leader of all.  "When we had our great leaders in Africa before the slave trade, colonialism and when we lost them over the years, we thought we have nobody to take their place but thank God with the coming of His Excellency President Jammeh, today, our history, culture has been revived," she said.

The vice president opined that organising the festival in Kanilai village itself is a very befitting move given the fact that the village is rich in terms of culture and history. To this end, she described President Jammeh as "a man of culture and history," reminding the gathering of his breakthrough in using traditional herbs to heal people with different types of ailments.

Dr Njie-Saidy appealed on behalf of President Jammeh, for the custodians of culture to pass their various cultural heritages onto the upcoming generations. She observed that some of the cultures are fading away as well, and stressed the need for the intensification of efforts towards reviving them. She again commended those who participated in the festival, and expressed hope that the event had given them the opportunity to exchange lessons of good practice. She also urged them to share those new lessons of good practice with others back at home.

The vice president finally described all the participants as winners in the 5th Kanilai International Cultural Festival. Speaking on behalf of the minister of Tourism and Culture, Fatou Mass Jobe-Njie, the minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad, Dr Mammadou Tangara, also applauded President Jammeh for the initiative, which he said is borne out of the desire to not only revive and promote culture, but as well to promote peace and understandings among the human race. Like the vice president, the Foreign Affairs minister underscored the great importance the president attaches to culture, stating that culture occupies a key position in any development process.

Minister Tangara described President Jammeh as a great pan-Africanist who is translating his ideas into action.  He then called on Africans to nurture unity amongst themselves, forget about differences and initiate strategies that will bring them together. He also thanked the organising committee of the 5th Kanilai International Cultural Festival and the participants for seeing the festival through.
Presentation of trophies

The closing of the festival saw the presentation of trophies to outstanding cultural troupes within and outside the country in various categories or disciplines of culture, such as traditional, mystical, dance, and music, amongst others. Sierra Leone lifted the supreme trophy for mystical power demonstration; the Republic of Guinea Bissau came second, whilst the Republic of Mali came third.
The Republic of Guinea Bissau grabbed the supreme champions' trophy for cultural entertainment international.

The most regular and punctual cultural troupe trophy went to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. In the home front, Upper River Region was declared the first winners of the Best Cultural Group; Lower River Region came second, whilst Central River Region came third.