ECOFEST 2021 has got people talking about Sierra Leone and P-Square re-union all over the world. The annual festival which took at the National Stadium on 26th and 27th November, 2021 with host of national and international acts brought positive image to Sierra Leone.

ECOFEST was theme as “Rejuvenation” which was brought to the fans by Kabaka Multimedia Entertainment (KME), Skye Bank and Afrimoney. The CEO, Abu Bakarr Turay popularly known as Kabaka and his team did everything possible to make the festival a success.

However, the festival brought huge success to Sierra Leone and also faced challenges which are compiled by Sierraloaded as eyewitness and based on observations and interviews.

One key amazing thing done by ECOFEST was to bring the biggest Africa musical duo, P-Square to perform together on the same stage after 4 years of their disputes. Even though they were booked to perform on different dates, the twins agreed to bless Sierra Leoneans with their first performance after their re-union during their 40th birthday celebration.

Mr. P was set to perform in Day 1 while Rudeboy was set to perform Day 2 of the festival. During an interview on AYV TV, both disclosed that, they will no longer perform separately since they have come back together. Therefore, would like to activate their re-union in Sierra Leone by performing together.

The duo was introduced on stage at around 5:00AM. The energy brought on stage was unique. The love and passion for Sierra Leoneans was spotted. To show a proof of their re-union, the singers did not perform any of their solo songs instead they performed their old songs like; Do me, E Nor Easy, etc.

Another success of the festival was the organizing of over 10 international acts. Not only by hosting them but they also threw powerful performance at the National Stadium. The momentum started from Day 1 when Miss Jobizz from The Gambia, Kenny Blaq and Di’ja from Nigeria and Master KG from South Africa surprised fans with energetic performance followed by Sierra Leonean acts like; Isha Cee, Internet Man, Leonus D Genius, Faze Ya Alimamy, Step Q, Jooel, Amie Kallon, Steady Bongo, Blez, Camouflage and others.

Day 2 was a night of clash of talents where Bisa Kdei from Ghana, Eddy Kenzo from Uganda, Guchi, Rema and P-Square from Nigeria brighten National Stadium with excellent and energetic performance. There was also a clash of comedy between Nigeria’s Broda Shaggi and Sierra Leone’s Richie Obama. The battle continues with the performance from Sierra Leonean acts that didn’t allow their counterparts to defeat them. The stage was first lightened by Sierra Leonean-America based singer, Natasha Beckley aka Swadu who got the attention of the audience through her rapping skills and costume. Markmuday, Future K, Step Q, Empress Pee, Kracktwist & Samza, I-Tribe, M.I.C, Innocent, Boss La and others pulled up a large crowd during their energetic performance.

ECOFEST also introduced another vital sector which has been ignored for a while. The festival host cultural dancers from each district. They were given the platform in Day 1 where they displayed their skills to the world. The likes of Amie Kallon and Steady Bongo who are the legends of cultural songs in Sierra Leone thanked the organizers of the festival for providing the platform to showcase their rich culture.

As usual, ECOFEST also provide the best musical sound system and stage craft. National Stadium has a capacity of over 40,000 people. Hosting an event there requires you to go in for a powerful sound system. However, ECOFEST collaborated with Cribs International and provided a sound system that reached all the four corners of the National Stadium. Fans are difficult to please when it comes to sound system but for ECOFEST, they satisfaction was guaranteed.

Just like ECOFEST 2019 when Diamond Platnumz of Tanzania was hosted, the craft of the stage was unique and first of its kind in Sierra Leone. The stage was also surrounded by lights which made fans at the far end to watch the performance.

Furthermore, there was excitement from the fans. When a female DJ was on stage playing Africa songs from Niara Marley, Diamond Platnumz, Wizkid and others, fans on the stands and stage area danced a lot. A moment later, Sierra Leone finest DJ, Min-One was introduced who turned up the crowd with old Sierra Leone songs. Min-One played songs from K-Man, X-Project, 2 Plus 1, Boss La, Kao Denero, Rumpel and many others.

Sierraloaded saw tens of disabled people given free access to the stage area. Some were on their wheelchairs while others left theirs and sat on the carpet grass danced to the songs with excitement.

Above all, the greatest success of ECOFEST 2021 was increase in the economy of Sierra Leone, provision of jobs to Sierra Leoneans and boosting of tourism sector. Hosting an international event requires a lot of conditions which need to be fulfilled before given access. Ranging from booking of the National Stadium, police clearance, designing of flyers, printing of banners, tickets and t-shirts, Freetown City Council clearance, hiring of securities (police/military officers, private securities, bouncers, etc.), accommodation (hotels, guesthouses) renting of vehicles, booking of sound system, stage and lights, paying of tax, revenue at the Lungi International Airport etc.

The Challenges:

One key challenge of ECOFEST which according to Sierraloaded observation was cost of ticket. The ticket cost was seen expensive by many Sierra Leoneans who couldn’t afford it. The tickets cost for ECOFEST 2019 ‘The Evolution’ which pulled up the biggest crowd at the history of National Stadium were; Le 30,000 for Open Stand, Le 100,000 for Cover Stand, Le 120,000 for Stage Area and Le 300,000 for Presidential Stand whereas the just concluded ECOFEST 2021 ‘Rejuvenation’ tickets price were Le 50,000 for Open Stand, Le 200,000 for Cover Stand, Le 150,000 for Stage Area and Le 400,000 for Presidential Stand. This is the expensive show ever hosted at the National Stadium. Looking at the hardship of the country in which over 60% are unemployed, the costs of the tickets were seen expensive. This prevented many Sierra Leoneans from attending the festival.

Another challenge of ECOFEST 2021 was poor stage management. There were a lot of people on stage especially when Guchi, Rema and P-Square were performing. Securities occupied the stage in the name of protecting the musicians. Even when they occupied the stage, fans who were eager to touch their celebrities were unable to control. This also made the sound system to be disconnected twice during the performance of P-Square. The crowding of the stage by securities and fans made people not to enjoy the performance of Guchi, Rema and P-Square. The musical duo left the stage when the sound system went off for the second time after performing few songs.