Gambia to host ECOFEST 2019

Last year, the event took place in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown and was a partnership between Sierra Leone's Kabaka Multimedia Entertainment, a record label founded by Abu Bakarr Turay, and Ghana's Empire Entertainment.

The 2019 event is again organised by Kabaka Multimedia and Entertainment. This time it is presents the festival in collaboration with Gambian establishment Global Ace. As with the 2018 edition, the event will bring together popular West African artists to one stage.

These artists are drawn from the Gambia, Senegal, Guinea, Cape Verde, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria. In 2018, the event was headlined by Patoranking and Pataapa. This year ,artists expected to perform include Brikama Boyo, Jizzle, Dip Doundou Guiss, Stonebwoy, Timaya, Takana Zion, J Slught and Arkman.

"Nine nations, all just one night," says Turay in a publicity video. He adds that while it might sound like it's "too good to be true...it is true."

The festival's publicist, Olimatta Taal, said ECOFEST would give the Gambia a chance to showcase its talented musicians and provide artists with an opportunity to network.

“We intend to put this in the entertainment calendar of the country with the firm belief that ECOFEST will become a reference point for the sharing of cultural ideas from West African nations,” she said, adding that the Gambia needs to get a share of the multi-million dollar music industry.

Speaking about the value of the event to the Gambian music industry, Abby Sarr of Global Ace said ECOFEST would help develop the local music industry and give international exposure to its artists. The Gambia was one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the world, she said, but until entertainment was given a place in national policy, its economic value would go unnoticed.

A tourism and hospitality expert, Sarr said that “there is room for growth in the entertainment industry and ECOFEST is creating a platform for artists in the industry. It will give performing artists from smaller music industries a place to share and create ideas by bringing them in contact with talents from nations with more established entertainment industries."