By TAIYE OLAYEMI

The Calas Vegas Band has emerged overall winner of the Carnival Calabar competitive events.

The winning band Is led by the former Minister for Culture and Tourism and former Cross River Commissioner for Tourism, Chief Edem Duke.

The band which was one of the newest bands, performed energetically and thrilled the revellers with their beautifully decorated costumes and theatrical materials.

Calas Vegas performance exhibited theglory of Cross Riverin greenery environment, enticing tourism destinations and more.

Passion 4 band, the band with the most wins in the history of the carnival,came second, and was led by Chief Chris Akigbe while Seagull band led bySen. Florence Ita-Giwa, came third.

Other competing bands in the carnival included Bayside band, Diamond band, Freedom band and Master Blaster band.

In the Childrens Carnival Category, Passion 4 emerged winners, Seagull Band came second, while Calas Vegas secured the third position.

For the Local Government Area Category, Odukpani came first, Akpabuyo emerged second and Calabar South won the third position.

For the Cultural Festival, Akwa Ibom came first, Ebonyi second, while Edo and Ondo state both came third in the state category.

The street party segment of the carnival which started at the Millennium Park witnessed a 12 kilometres performance through to the UJ Esuene Stadium where performances continued till dawn, when the winners were announced.

Each of the band performed in line with the theme for the carnival Season of Sweetness and were assessed by teams of jury.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the carnival attracted top dignitaries across the country. (NAN)