The city of Enugu is set to host a landmark literary and cultural festival honouring the life and legacy of Chinua Achebe, Africa’s most iconic novelist. Organised by the Enugu-based Centre for Memories – Ncheta Ndigbo – the week-long event marks an evolution of the annual Things Fall Apart Day, now in its fifth year, into a broader celebration that mirrors Achebe’s towering global stature.
This year’s festival will be headlined by internationally acclaimed author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who is widely regarded as Achebe’s most prominent literary descendant. Adichie, currently on a global tour for her new novel Dream Count, will return home to deliver the keynote address inspired by the festival’s theme: “Masculine, Feminine, Human – The Dialogue of Complements in Things Fall Apart.” The theme, according to organisers, is designed to explore Achebe’s nuanced portrayal of male and female roles, the tensions between them, and how these dynamics speak to current conversations on identity, humanity, and culture.
In a statement, the organisers described the festival as a week-long cultural immersion that will honour Achebe’s impact through art, scholarship, technology, and performance. One of the event’s most anticipated features will be a recreated Umuofia Village—bringing to life the fictional setting of Things Fall Apart and offering visitors a vivid, living experience of Achebe’s imagined world. There will also be a special appearance by the lead cast of the 1987 television adaptation of the novel, including Nollywood legend Pete Edochie, who famously portrayed the protagonist, Okonkwo.
The festival promises a symbolic and dramatic entrance by the Ajofia masquerade, a powerful cultural element featured in the novel. Other events will include an essay competition open to students and the general public, film screenings, and guided memory walks through literary and historical spaces.
