Mare Festival; a heritage in decline
With the many picturesque hills, myth and awesome nature, Idanre, a hilly town in Ondo State, is worth your visit. At 300ft above sea level, early settlers strained their eyes to have a better view of the awesome Idanre hills from its foot. Today, visitors still strain their eyes to see the peak from the foot of the hill. But from afar, the hills are very visible even to the blind because of the overbearing height that offers protection to the community tucked in its bosom.
The aesthetics, architecture and thoroughness employed by nature in the assemblage of hills of various shapes and sizes at Idanre, also called ‘Oke Idanre’ by the locals, are all intriguing, hence making the hill an adventure that awaits visitors.
With all these going for Idanre, the Ondo State government under Olusegun Mimiko in 2009, made efforts at improving infrastructural facilities in the town and drawing attention of global tourists to the huge tourism potential within.
To further woo more visitors to come and spend their hard-earned money, the government then initiated the Mare Festival, a mix of cultural, sports, entertainment and tourism activities.
The festival, which holds every December attracts local and international mountain climbers, marathon racers, art and craft entrepreneurs who display souvenirs, cultural troupes, youths seeking empowerment, and most especially tourists.
Considering the growing visitations to the town for the festival and tours, the Ondo State government established Idanre Hills Resort, which offers several accommodation options to the visitors.
From the tree houses and houses on the rock (Ile oriota), all fully serviced apartments and in threebedroom and two-bedroom en suites categories), the resort was built with visitors in mind.
Sadly, the Mare heritage has been in decline since Olusegun Mimiko, former governor and the initiator, left office in 2016.
With no festival to celebrate, the deliberate attempt by the last administration to establish a festival around the scenic beauty of the hilly town of Idanre seems to be in vain, as well, efforts at creating awareness of the tourism potential on Idnare and Ondo State at large are wasted too.
It would be recalled that the eighth celebration of the festival, the former governor said: “Mare Festival has come to stay and I have no doubt in my mind that the incoming government will do all to sustain it. God has endowed Idanre with natural resources and there are no two towns like Idanre. I can see a new tourism corridor in Akure/idanre and this we have been developing since 2009.”
The former governor may be wrong as the present administration in the state has done little to sustain the festival. For two years now, the festival has been in decline and may remain same in 2019, as no preparation is insight.
As expected, the Idanre Hills Resort is at the receiving end as the festival, which has sustained traffic to the resort, no longer holds.
With low patronage, the resort hardly sustains operations, hence dilapidating and impacting quality accommodation offerings, which is lacking in the town. The indigenes employed at the resort are definitely going to lose their jobs if the decline persists, youths who look forward to wining prize money at the many activities of Mare Festival are losing too, the locals are also losing from the usual merchandise during the festival, while government is failing to tap into a viable project that can woo global tourists to visit to spend hard currency.
However, the indigenes, tourism stakeholders, and tourists alike are calling on the Ondo State government to bring back Mare Festival this year.