The Argungu International Sports and Fishing Festival Nigeria.

The Argungu International Sports and Fishing Festival was first held in 1934 to celebrate, and commemorate, the end of strife between the Sokoto Caliphate, and the Kebbi Emirate council!


The strife had lasted for centuries, and the festival marked the beginning of peace! The festival usually runs for four days with a series of traditional water sports. These include catching a live fish bare hand, canoe races, catching a wild water fowl, balancing on a rolling log  in the water, archery, etc.


There are various prizes to be won. The grand prize is usually reserved for competition on the last day of the festival. On this day, thousands of fishermen, sometimes as many as thirty thousand, compete to catch the biggest Nile perch, and cat fish. 


A cash prize, among others, is on offer!


The festival is usually held in the first quarter of the year. The nature of the fishing is not the usual catch, and release method. Instead, the fish caught, are usually taken home by the fishermen, or sold at auction! The fishermen use calabash gourds as flotation devices, and hand held nets.


A new addition to the festival, is the Argungu Fishing Festival motor race. The race starts off in Abuja, the federal capital of Nigeria, and winds it's way through five states to Kebbi state. The race lasts for about nine hours, and runs through residential areas!


The people of the Argungu Emirate council are warm, and hospitable.   


Accommodation is available at the fishing village, and in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital.