Gambia to host mega fashion show

The Gambia will 17 December 2011 play host to the first-ever Gambia Fashion Night that is expected to bring together fashion designers and renowned musicians across the world.

Together with the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the organizers of the event, the Gambia Fashion Night (GFN) seeks among others to promote destination Gambia and bring media attention to the country.

The event will show what is currently going on in the world of fashion, and bring the best quality event to West Africa.

It is also expected to create an event in which international designers from various countries including Germany, Poland, Nigeria, and the United States can showcase their fashions.

Speaking at a press conference held at Sheraton Hotel last Thursday, Mr Joachim Zielesch, Producer of Gambia Fashion Night, said the purpose of the event is to promote tourism in The Gambia, which, he said, is the backbone of the country’s economy.

“Our intention is to boost Gambian Tourism and with the support of everybody, we will be able to market The Gambia to the world,” he said, while commending their sponsors Comium, Gambega, Standard newspaper and Daily Observer newspaper.

According to him, many fashion designers are collaborating with them to make this event a success.

For his part, the Managing Director of Comium, Amer Atwi, called for collective responsibility in the promotion of tourism. While assuring the organizers of his company’s support, the Comium boss said this is a starting point as they want to bring a new aspect of The Gambia to the wider world.

Rebecca Riley-Bensouda, National and International Events Manager and Tourism promoter, who is also a promoter in the entertainment industry, expressed hope of organising a fruitful event.

She told journalists that there will be an after-show party with DJs from Germany, international jazz musicians and singers and other forms of entertainment.

“The sponsors will have the opportunity to create an interesting platform for their product presentation,” she assured.

Haddy Darboe, a marketing research officer at the Gambia Tourism Board, expressed their readiness to support anybody who wants to promote and sell the good image of The Gambia to the outside world. “Events like this will help The Gambia to be very popular,” she said.

Also speaking at the press conference, Charbel Hobeika, the managing director of Gambia Tours, noted that it is a stiff competition when it comes to tourism and this international event which will be the first of its kind to be organised in the country, will help to take the name of the country to the wider world and to attract more tourists.

According to her, they have completed a guide book about The Gambia, written in both English and German and is hopefully going to be out by this week.

Meanwhile, the Gambia’s Awa Conateh, alias ‘Yaws’, will represent the country as the Gambian designer in the event.

Lamin Manga, the proprietor of Unique FM, will be the MC of the event alongside Cecile Dutsch, a German TV presenter.