The Federal Government has launched a 100-day national tourism season designed to connect festivals, concerts, cultural events and lifestyle experiences across Nigeria.
Tagged “Ember to Remember 2026,” the initiative was formally unveiled on Monday, September 14, 2026, at a national stakeholders’ conference in Lagos, with the government seeking to turn the country’s traditionally busy end-of-year travel period into a broader tourism and creative-economy opportunity.
The programme was first announced on Monday, August 17, 2026, by the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy in partnership with MyCityApp, with the national digital events and experiences calendar designed to cover all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, said the initiative was created to bring Nigeria’s culture, tourism, entertainment, hospitality, transportation, commerce and creative economy together under a coordinated national programme.
Musawa said Nigeria already has festivals, food, music, fashion, heritage and hospitality experiences capable of attracting visitors, but what has been lacking is a structure that brings them together and gives them wider visibility.
“What has been missing is a deliberate structure that brings these experiences together, gives them visibility and allows us to market them as one powerful national story,” Musawa said.
She described Ember to Remember as a coordinated September-to-December tourism season intended to move the country beyond simply organising individual events towards building an economy around those experiences.
“It is about moving beyond simply having events to deliberately building an economy around those experiences,” she said.
The national programme is expected to feature festivals, concerts, cultural celebrations, food experiences, fashion activities, exhibitions, sporting events, conferences, community events and other tourism and lifestyle experiences taking place across the country.
At the centre of the initiative is a National Digital Events and Experiences Calendar powered by MyCityApp, which is expected to provide a single platform where Nigerians, members of the diaspora and international visitors can discover activities and destinations during the season.
The platform is designed to bring together information on events and experiences across the country instead of leaving visitors to search for individual activities through separate channels.
The organisers have also called on event organisers across Nigeria to upload their programmes to the platform through its dedicated Ember to Remember section.
Musawa said the government wants the initiative to create economic connections between visitors and businesses operating beyond the entertainment industry.
“Every visitor creates a value chain, from aviation and transportation to hotels, restaurants, entertainment, retail, technology, artisans, and local communities,” she said.
The approach means that a visitor attending a festival or concert could also generate spending for airlines, transport operators, hotels, restaurants, retailers, artisans and other businesses linked to tourism.
The Federal Government has connected the programme to an ambition of unlocking a $100 billion tourism and creative economy opportunity, although the figure represents an economic target or potential rather than revenue already generated by the 100-day programme.
Musawa stressed at the September 14 launch that achieving such an ambition would require participation beyond the Federal Ministry, with government, private businesses, investors, technology platforms, hospitality operators and other stakeholders expected to contribute to the sector.
“Our ambition must, however, go beyond December,” she said, adding that it would require “deliberate planning, collaboration, investment and execution” to drive the initiative.
She also said the proposed $100 billion opportunity could not be created by one ministry, company or event, but through a wider ecosystem involving multiple sectors.
“The $100 billion opportunity will not be created by one ministry, one company or one event,” Musawa said.
“It will be created by an ecosystem.”
The initiative is also aimed at strengthening domestic tourism by encouraging Nigerians to explore events and destinations in different parts of the country rather than concentrating tourism activity around a few major cities.
For international visitors and Nigerians in the diaspora, the digital calendar is expected to provide a central point for discovering what is happening across Nigeria during the September-to-December period.
The Federal Government has described the period as more than a festive-season entertainment window, arguing that Nigeria’s cultural and creative activities can support wider economic activity when they are deliberately packaged, promoted and connected to tourism.
Musawa said the government’s objective is to move from a system where events operate largely as separate activities to one where destinations, events, businesses and communities can benefit from a coordinated national tourism market.
The programme is scheduled to run from September through December 2026, with the digital calendar presenting activities across the country during the season. MyCityApp’s current platform describes the initiative as the official 100-day national calendar and lists September, October, November and December as the four months covered.
The initiative therefore places Nigeria’s festive-season culture within a broader tourism framework, with the Federal Government seeking to use existing events and experiences to attract visitors, increase tourism spending, support businesses and strengthen the country’s creative economy.
