Five Competing Bands in The Calabar Carnival

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by Justin Irabor / 03 Oct 2015

The Calabar Carnival is a yearly event that blends dexterity with colours, choreography skills, and costumes of five different bands. The uniqueness is beautiful, and the hype is so extreme you won’t want to miss out on any of the bands parades. You would love each band and have a hard time picking a favourite. To make it easier for you, we have listed five bands and what they look like on parades. Colours are very important among these bands, and that’s what helps you identify with them.

Bayside Band

The colour of the Bayside band is blue. The colour theme is used to create some stunning costumes for the different members of this band. Anyone from anywhere can join this band. In 2007, it won the competition. There are three categories options if you want to join in; Junior, Honorary and Full membership. Their dances and creativity would endear you to the band.

Master Blaster Band

Over the years, Master Blaster band has become a crowd favourite because they almost always win. Their colour is orange, and they make it so attractive. This is the biggest band during the Calabar Carnival, and they have the swagger. The band carries everyone along with its different kinds of music and dance. More than 20 troupes are seen in this band all dotted in orange. Whoever said orange wasn’t pretty?

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Seagulls Band

This is the ‘celebrity band’. If you have never seen some of Nigeria’s celebrities, you would see them in this band. You can see them dancing along in some amazing costumes. They paint the town red. Everywhere is literally red, and they march proudly. The honorary members are from Nollywood, which is why it is always the center of attraction. In 2009, the band tied with the Passion4 band as the Calabar Carnival winners.

Freedom Band

Step out of the way as Freedom band turns everywhere yellow. It has 10 troupes whose colours create very beautiful costumes. They believe they own the sun and don’t shy away from this claim during the Calabar Carnival parade.

Passion 4 Band

Passion 4 band has always been at the forefront because it is a four-time winner of the competition. The Passion 4 band is good, and they are never intimidated by any of the others. Their colour is green.