Holiday Edition: GTCO Festival to create vibrant marketplace for African culinary businesses

The Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO) has announced the maiden and special edition of its Food & Drink Festival themed ‘Holiday Edition’.

This year’s event is designed as a vibrant celebration of Africa’s culinary heritage and a festive platform for families, entrepreneurs, and food lovers.

During a press briefing on Thursday, the company revealed that the festival which will hold on December 20 and 21 is scheduled to take place at the GTCentre, Plot 1, Water Corporation Drive, Oniru, Lagos.

The holiday timing is expected to be a major attraction, aligning with a season when families seek entertainment, diaspora visitors return home, and businesses experience heightened demand. The event is designed to create a vibrant marketplace for vendors to maximise festive sales while offering families memorable holiday experiences.

The Holiday Edition will introduce several new features, including a dedicated children’s play zone with holiday-themed games and curated entertainment.

A Street food Hub will spotlight Nigeria’s growing urban fashion scene through designer pop-ups, live demonstrations and exclusive drops. Guests will also enjoy DJ raves headlined by two of Nigeria’s top performers.

The organisers of the event highlighted the festival’s continued growth and impact.

They emphasised that the festival “has grown into a powerful platform for celebrating enterprise, creativity, and the richness of African cuisine”.

They added that the ‘Holiday Edition’ is aimed at “creating joyful shared experiences for food and beverage SMEs”.

“The GTCO Food & Drink Festival has grown into a powerful platform for celebrating enterprise, creativity, and the richness of African cuisine,” they said.

“The Holiday Edition reflects our commitment to creating joyful shared experiences while supporting SMEs across the food and beverage value chain. We look forward to hosting families, businesses, and visitors from across the world at this special festive celebration.”

Esther Emoekpere is a data analyst in the audience engagement department at BusinessDay, where she uses data to understand reader behaviour, spot unusual trends, and support the newsroom with insights that shape story performance. She holds a BSc in Statistics from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta.

She also with the BD Weekender team, where she covers a range of beats including profiles, food, lifestyle, restaurants, and fashion—creating stories shaped by audience interest and real-time engagement trends.

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