Augustine A. Atano: Feok Festival 2021 (Review)

Augustine Anyin-gabe Atano

Feok Festival 2021 (Review)

Adopted from The Road to Sandema (June 10, 2022) with the permission of the author

The 2021 Feok Festival celebrations went on smoothly as usual. The grand durbar was held on 16th December 2021.
Attendance was low at this year’s celebrations partly due to the uncertainty and late communication of the date for the grand durbar and also partly due to the hairy menacing COVID-19 pandemic whose Omicron variant was more flammable than hydrocarbon chemicals.
The paramount chief touched on some key issues of concern to the people of Buluk which include inadequate security personnel to protect individuals and their businesses and the need for reinforcement, the poor state of roads and the knee-jerk attitude of road construction in Buluk, the increasing spate of deforestation and the urgent need to begin a massive replanting of trees in Buluk, and the need for a museum to preserve the cultural heritage of the Bulsa.
The Bulsa Heritage and Cultural Society, being spearheaded by Mr John Agandin, was also present at the 2021 Feok festival celebration with several cultural materials on display. A canopy was allotted to the group this time round.
Health screening was organized on the day of the grand durbar by the Municipal Chief Executive as part of activities to mark the event. However, only a few individuals actually showed up because a majority of patrons were rather interested in the major event of the day.
The Feok Fun Games also came off successfully and Kori Alab-yeri were crowned the ultimate winners.
The “Buluk To The World Concert” was also organized. This year’s event took two days. Local drummers and musicians were made to perform on the eve of the main Feok durbar. Native hiplife artists with a guest artist were billed to perform on the night of the Feok Festival grand durbar. Both activities witnessed massive patronage and were held throughout the night.

Archers at the 2021 archery competition in Sandema

The archery competition was held the next day after the grand durbar, among archers from some communities in Sandema, and the Kori community won.
The timing of the health screening that was organized by the MCE on the day of the grand durbar is inappropriate because most people are often busy with activities of the day and do not benefit from the screening program. We suggest the health screening program comes first as part of the plans we outlined last year to make the Feok Festival celebration a week-long event (including general cleaning of communities). We also propose a community-based health screening to promote healthy practices among Buluk communities.
We applaud the organizers of the “Buluk To The World” concert for their ingenuity to bring on board traditional music. More grease to your elbows.
The continuous variation of the date of the Feok festival grand durbar has affected patronage over time and must be reconsidered. People who are interested in the Feok need to plan beforehand and a delay in communicating the date does not help in this regard.
The Feok Festival Planning Committee members must be made known to everybody so that other people with creative ideas can participate in the planning process for a better Feok celebration.

The Sandem-Nab on his throne (photo: Akisikpak)