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The road to Jos Food Festival 2026 has already begun.

With the Festival scheduled for 18–20 December at Nirvana Park & Gardens, Jos, organizers are using a series of food, cultural and community experiences to build towards an edition themed “This Is Plateau.”

Produced by the CHEF ELVIS Company, the Festival is being developed as a three-day experience combining food, entertainment, culture, fashion, tourism, enterprise, creativity and brand experiences.

One of the most significant elements is The Season, a proposed 72-hour Nigerian-style shawarma record bid involving the continuous preparation and serving of 3,000 shawarmas.

The Season is expected to operate throughout the Festival, bringing together chefs, production teams, volunteers, partners and guests in a live culinary production.

The project is currently being developed with operational systems covering food preparation, food safety, staffing, logistics, documentation and quality control, alongside relevant technical and professional validation processes.

Before December, however, the team has been using smaller activations to introduce the concept and test different elements of the experience.

A recent Shawarma Pop-Up in Jos welcomed 1,304 guests, with 533 customers served, giving the team an opportunity to observe public response and test aspects of production and operations.

Another planned layer of the campaign is Dress Code: Plateau, a cultural and fashion activation inviting participants to interpret Plateau identity through traditional and contemporary fashion, photography, content and storytelling.

These experiences form part of a broader strategy to introduce the Festival gradually, allowing different aspects of its identity to reach audiences before the December event.

At the Festival itself, audiences can expect a culinary programme spanning indigenous Plateau dishes, traditional meals, grills, fried foods, pastries, small chops, contemporary meals and modern street-food concepts.

The wider programme will include music, entertainment, games, fashion, cultural storytelling, creator experiences and brand activations.

Local restaurants, food entrepreneurs and emerging brands will also have opportunities to connect directly with audiences and showcase their products.

For Festival Director Chef Elvis Katlong Henry, the activities leading to December are ultimately about creating a larger platform for Plateau.

“The world-record ambition may attract attention, but Plateau is the story. We want people to experience our food, our people, our creativity, our hospitality and the energy that makes Jos different. This Is Plateau is our way of putting all of that in one place.”

By December, the different pieces will come together at Nirvana Park & Gardens.

Three days.

One Festival.

One central idea:

This Is Plateau.

Event: Jos Food Festival 2026
Theme: This Is Plateau
Dates: 18–20 December 2026
Venue: Nirvana Park & Gardens, Jos, Plateau State
Major Experience: The Season — proposed 72-hour Nigerian-style shawarma record bid

Nigeria Chess Federation (NCF) is picking positives from FIDE awards bestowed on two of the nation’s youngsters, Sandra Osarugue Omoruyi and Odey Goodness Ekunke, citing them as major pointers to a growing impact by the sport in the country.

Sports247 reports that, apart from enjoying spotlight attention as young members of Nigeria’s team to the recent 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Omoruyi and Ekunke both left the venue with personal elevations to their international statuses.

READ ALSO: Nigeria’s Players Resume Action At FIDE Chess Olympiad, After Tuesday’s Official Rest Day

Omoruyi is now recognised as a high-profile Woman Candidate Master (WCM), while Ekunke attained the esteemed title of Candidate Master (CM), thereby confirming major breakthroughs for both young players on the prestigious global chess scene.

In response to the developments, NCF secretary-general, Ejiro Thukson IV pointed out that global recognition achieved by Omoruyi and Ekunke are pointers to better days ahead of Nigeria in major chess competitions and important gains for the country from this year’s FIDE Olympiad.

Although the country’s contingent could not clinch any podium spot at the elite competion, which featured 208 teams in the open section and 192 in the women’s event, Thukson IV stressed that it showed how the future of Nigerian chess continues to take shape.

Thukson IV retorted, “The emergence of new titled players such as Omoruyi and Ekunke provides another important storyline from Samarkand, alongside the experience gained by the wider national team.

“The titles are particularly significant in the context of the progress both players have made. Ekunke, born in 2011, had already established himself as one of Nigeria’s brightest young players before arriving in Samarkand.

“At the Olympiad, the youngster again showed his quality, scoring 6 points from 11 games, including victories over players from New Caledonia, Saudi Arabia, Malawi, Guyana and Tunisia, as well as a draw against Cuba’s GM Aramis Alvarez Pedraza.

“Omoruyi was equally prominent. She scored 6 points from 10 games, registering six victories, including a crucial win against Syria in the final round. Her performance was one of the stronger individual returns in the Nigerian women’s camp.

“Other members also produced noteworthy performances. WIM Bridget Michael finished the women’s competition with 5½ points from nine games, while WFM Deborah Quickpen and WFM Michelle Chiamaka Nwankwo both finished on 4½ points.

“In the Open section, FM Abdulrahman Akintoye also recorded 5½ points, while IM Odion Aikhoje finished with 4½ points. FM Bomo Lovet Kigigha contributed 4½ points, with Ekunke leading the Nigerian men on six points.”

Sports247, however, gathered that the final stadings did not reflect the gallant efforts of everyone in the Nigerian contingent, as the women finished 85th with 11 match points, while the men placed 118th with 10 match points after 11 rounds.

Despite the startling low placements for the country, the NCF’s scribe insists it was a gallant outing for the contingent and enthused that many rays of hope emerged to indicate better days for Nigeria in the glittering array of global chess.