The Osun State Government has formally rolled out detailed plans for the maiden Adire Osun Festival 2025, an annual cultural and economic showcase designed to turn the state’s rich Adire heritage into a powerful engine of youth empowerment, tourism, and wealth creation.
This was made known today, Monday, November 17, 2025, at a World Media Conference held at the Exco Lounge, Office of the Governor, Osogbo, with key presentations from the Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Teslim Igbalaye (Bobagunwa of Osogbo); the Chairman, Osun State Council for Arts and Culture, Hon. Ebenezer Adeniji; and the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Creative Economy, Events and Entertainment, Hon. Tunde “Laface” Adegboye.
While delivering the lead address, the Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Teslim Igbalaye, conveyed the warm greetings of Governor Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke and officially announced that Adire Osun Festival has been adopted as an annual, flagship event for the state.
He explained that the 2025 edition, scheduled for December, is conceived as both a cultural celebration and an economic development platform.
According to him, the festival is anchored on four major objectives:- To boost the economy of the state; to attract tourists to the state, create employment opportunities and to stimulate the local economy through Adire production, sales, fashion, and associated services.
The festival also aimed at engaging youth:- Drawing young people into creative and cultural activities that promote productivity, innovation and self-reliance.
It also serves as Cultural Presrvation:- Showcasing Adire as a unique textile heritage and repositioning Osun, especially Osogbo, as the historic source of Aro and Adire craft.
Entrepreneurship Opportunities: Providing a launchpad for local designers, artisans and entrepreneurs to connect with national and global markets.
Igbalaye outlined the festival’s key components, including:- Adire Osun Ambassadors Launch, unveiling the faces and voices that will champion the Adire brand. Adire Osun Fashion Couture, runway showcases of indigenous Adire designs and contemporary adaptations. Adire Osun Export Summit, a platform to discuss trade, export, and global opportunities for Adire and related creative products. Adire Osun Street Carnival, a colourful, high-energy parade celebrating the culture, fashion and rhythms of Osun.
“We are excited to transform Osun State into an entertainment and creativity hub,” the SSG declared, calling on stakeholders, partners, and the media to support what he described as “the Adire evolution” under Governor Adeleke’s creative leadership.
In his welcome address, Chairman of the Osun State Council for Arts and Culture, Hon. Ebenezer Adeniji, deepened the philosophical and economic context of the festival, tying it to the conference theme, “Creating Wealth, Empowering Youths.”
He said Adire Osun is far more than fabric and colour; it is a “living archive” carrying the stories, identity, and aspirations of the people.
“Culture without opportunities becomes a museum piece; heritage without pathways to prosperity becomes nostalgia,” Adeniji noted, stressing that the task before government and partners is to convert cultural capital into sustainable livelihoods.
He stressed that wealth creation within the Adire value chain must centre on dignity and fair reward for artisans and creatives, saying that “When an Adire maker earns consistently, families are stabilised, when small creative businesses grow, local supply chains expand and when communities prosper, culture is preserved as a living practice, not an artifact.”
Adeniji praised Governor Adeleke for approving the training of 25 youths in each of the 332 wards of the state in relevant creative and technical skills, describing it as a bold step towards making culture a serious economic driver, stressing that genuine empowerment must combine: Hands-on craft and design skills, business mentorship and enterprise training, digital literacy and branding and access to finance and markets.
He urged the media, to tell stories that grow demand, attract investors and celebrate youth-led creative enterprises, opined that “When you cover an artisan fairly, you open markets. When you highlight a youth enterprise, you inspire replication. The world watches through your lens.”
Adeniji called on investors and policymakers to support initiatives that treat culture as an economic asset, and called on citizens to wear Adire with pride as an act of solidarity with the artisans and young entrepreneurs behind the fabrics.
“Our Adire, our celebration, our future,” he concluded. “Let us stitch them together with intention, integrity and courage.”
In his remark, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Creative Economy, Events and Entertainment, Hon. Tunde “Laface” Adegboye, presented operational details of the festival under the brand ADOF ’25 – “Our Future, Our Celebration.”
He described the day as “a defining moment” for the Adire Osun Festival project, noting that even at the evolution stage, the initiative has already empowered over 1,000 Adire producers, fashion designers, craftsmen and accessory makers across the state.
Laface explained that the festival is structured around two major December events:
1. Adire Osun Export Summit –19th December 2025, at Oasis Event Centre, focusing on export opportunities, trade, and Adire fashion business.
2. Adire Osun Carnival, Saturday, 20th December 2025, a full-scale Yorucentric street carnival in Osogbo.
He disclosed that the carnival will kick off by 10am from Olaiya Junction, move through Old Garage, Ajegunle, Igbona, Ayetoro, to Stadium Roundabout, then back towards Old Garage and onward to the Imole De Flyover at Okefia, before returning to Freedom Park, where festivities will climax.
According to him, the highlights of the carnival route include:- Live bands, DJs, MCs and hypemen stationed at major junctions such as Old Garage, Ajegunle, Ayetoro, Stadium Roundabout, Igbona and Imole Flyover.
The main carnival stage at Old Garage, hosting performances for the Governor and VIP guests; Colourful floats, all dressed in Adire Osun fabrics, celebrating key Yoruba cultural icons to symbolizes Arugba from Osogbo, Oriolokun from Ile-Ife, Sango from Ede and Ogedengbe from Ilesa.
SSA added that Governor Adeleke, as ADOF Project Visioner and Chief Host, alongside renowned textile icon Chief (Mrs.) Nike Okundaye (Mama Nike), the ADOF Queen and Global Ambassador, will also be honoured with special floats.
To add glamour and energise youth participation, he revealed that the carnival will feature; Horse riders and bikers, Skaters and cultural troupes, Angere performers, Boys’ Brigade, Imole Choir Ensemble and Drummers and dancers, saying that “All will be costumed in distinctive Adire Osun fabrics to maintain a unified cultural identity.”
The carnival according to him is projected to run for about eight hours, from 10am to 6pm–7pm on the streets, before envisioning into an all-night concert at Freedom Park, featuring top Nigerian acts, Osun-based artists, DJs, comedians, hypemen and dancers.
Laface assured journalists that the government will work closely with all stakeholders in providing adequate security, traffic management, emergency medical services and public enlightenment, especially regarding road diversions along the carnival route.
He positioned Adire Osun Festival in the same league as Calabar Carnival, Ojude Oba Festival in Ijebu-Ode and the globally acclaimed Osun-Osogbo Festival, noting that the project has the capacity to significantly boost Osun’s internally generated revenue (IGR) and create thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
Describing the festival as a “legacy project” of Governor Adeleke, Laface disclosed that the governor has committed to hosting Adire Osun annually with continuous upgrades. He also appealed to the governor to officially declare Saturday, 20th December 2025, as Adire Day in Osun State.
“Gentlemen of the press,” he concluded, “welcome to the future. Be part of this visionary legacy of His Excellency, Asiwaju Senator Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke…Imole 4 Plus 4.”
