Sheikh Omar Jallow, director for Performing and Fine Arts at the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC) said the festival is organised by the NCAC in partnership with the European Union funded Youth Empowerment Project (YEP), the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and in collaboration with the community of Janjanbureh.
Jallow added that the Janjanbureh festival is part of the national festival of The Gambia which has been integrated for the past four years, as a national product.
Ngoneh Panneh, senior official at Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) said the Janjanbureh Kankurang festival is to support employment creation, create visibility for the island of Janjanbureh as a tourism destination and its cultural heritage.
The Gambia, International Trade Center (ITC) through the EU funded Youth Empowerment Project, and other partners within the tourism and cultural industry continue to realise the necessity to not only diversify from the sun, sand, and sea, but also decentralise tourism, including production services and its benefits to rural Gambia, but also to rural youth.
She said to make The Gambia a sustainable tourism destination to be able to support the growthand development of tourism, their project aims to support tourism in any way it could, including working with the EMC and National Centre for Arts and Culture.
Loli Camara, representing the Janjanbureh Event Management Committee (EMC) said not only arethey anticipating more touristsfor the 5th cultural festival,but also hope to take ownership of the festival.
