December is one of our favorite months of the year in Lagos. December in Lagos is exactly how you get scammed into moving back. You come home for Christmas and Lagos “finishes” you with enjoyment. The love for December is a little different as locals, but it’s love regardless lol.

December is also the month of the Festival — #EatDrinkFestival, that is. Year after year, we talk about each upcoming festival is our biggest yet, but we really mean it this year. We have an impressive vendor line-up and we’ve tacked on a couple new elements as well. Someone on the Nigerian internet said the festival is slowly becoming like mathematics, but trust us when we say this, this will be the one time a math class is enjoyable. Just trust us.

WHAT IS #EatDrinkFestival?

#EatDrinkFestival is our wonderful two-day food festival happening on December 26 and 27. For these two days, at that big field beside The Lekki Coliseum, you’ll get to sample from the finest in local culinary talent, attend some tasting panels, and if you’re really about, sample a fine dining dinner from a chef at the only Nigerian-owned Michelin star.

I’M NEW TO YOUR EVENT. WHAT DO I DO?

So you just ordered a wristband to #EatDrinkFestival or maybe you’re thinking about it. You aren’t too sure about it (trust us, it’s going to be great so get wristbands HERE) and don’t know what to expect. What if you don’t know anyone else there? What do you wear? How many pounds will you gain? How many jollof arancinis is too much?

Fear not, beloved. There is nothing to worry about. Here are a couple tips that'll help you make the most of this two-day feast  so that you can live your best life at #EatDrinkFestival

1. GET WRISTBANDS EARLY

Lagosians can be the masters of “lastminute.com” and we get it. Sometimes, you’re just too lazy to do anything ahead of time. Or maybe you just don’t trust online payments, which is a valid fear. 

But this one time, you might want change things up a bit. Having your wristband early means you don’t have to stand in line to get into the event. We’ve done this four times now, it is ALWAYS crowded at the gate. You don’t want that type of stress in your life. Guests with wristbands get on the express line, i.e. no line at all. 

To get a wristband, just order it off our event site HERE. 

(Yeah, we built a whole platform just for this and future events. That’s how awesome this one is going to be.)

After we confirm your order, we’ll shoot you an email when your wristband is ready for pick up and you can come down to Cafe One, at Lennox Mall (Lekki), to pick it up. The wristband grants you access to both days of the festival.

2. DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

Failure to plan is planning to fail. There’s a lot to see and do at #EatDrinkFestival. We’ll have over 80 vendors across the two days so each day is a whole new experience. It’s like having #EatDrinkFestival TWICE. Look over our vendor list ahead of time and prepare a list of "Must Visit” vendors. Check out the map on our website (available the week of the event) and make sure you plan to hit your favorites first.

Like last year, there’s the main stage with Maggi which will feature cooking demos and competitions. This year, we’re adding the Drink Theatre with Guinness. We’ll go in more detail later in the week, but this one is super super fun and there be lots of freebies. 

It can get a little crowded and overwhelming at the vendor stands so we’ve added something a little more chill called Fun Size Events. You can sit, catch your breath and continue the feasting. These are four pop-ups spread over two days in lunch and dinner sessions. View the schedule HERE.

3. MAKE A BUDGET, LOAD YOUR WRISTBAND

One big reason we put out vendor menus early is to help guests budget their festival spend. We’ve gone a step further for this edition. This year, all payments at the festival will be done with the wristband. Vendors will not be accepting cash or card. To make purchases, you'll have to load your wristband with points. You can load points at Cafe One before the festival or at the top up stations + front desk at the festival. Make a budget of what you want to spend and load up your wristband.

4. DRESS THE PART

Get yourself some comfortable shoes, absolutely no heels. Add a hat and sunscreen for the sun as well. Most importantly, wear some comfortable clothes because you're going to be doing some eating. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, so get some clothes with a little stretch. You'll most likely want to navigate the festival unencumbered, so pack light. Leave the unnecessary stuff at home.

5. PACE YOURSELF

This is the most important of all our tips. Don't overdo it. There’s no way you’re leaving hungry so pace yourself. The festival last two days this year so you want to avoid the premature food coma. 

6. GET A SQUAD

Get yourself a squad for the festival. As soon as you get into the festival, split up, secure some goodies, get back together at the seating areas and share your spoils 

7. MEET VENDORS, COLLECT CARDS.

Be sure to talk to the chefs, the mixologists, the artisans. You never know who might cater your wedding or your office’s end -of-year party. Get to know these guys because it’s very rare to find them physically  Most of our vendors don’t have physical locations and all most know about them is from social media. Meet them up close and ask al the questions you want. Collect cards from the businesses you loved, and jot down notes on the cards to help you remember their significance later.

8. IF YOU DON’T NEED TO DRIVE, DON'T.

We STRONGLY advise that you carpool or use any of the ridesharing services because that's what we'd do if we were attending an event like this. We even finessed ourselves a Taxify code for this very reason. You’ll be eating and drinking a lot so traffic isn’t something you want to partake in.

9. HAVE FUN!

We said 8 tips, but here’s one more.

#EatDrinkFestival is presented by Sterling Bank. DECEMBER  26 – 27, 2018

For the FULL  schedule and FAQs, visit eatdrinkfestival.com

Be sure to follow #EatDrinkFestival on Twitter and Instagram.