Saturday, July 16, a sunny day in the town of Mengong, it seemed as if the sun itself wanted to bring its blessing to this historic day. It is the D-day, the day for which, not only the whole team of The Belinga Foundation, but also the whole town of Mengong has been working for a year is finally here.

From 7 o’clock in the morning, the teams of The Belinga Foundation and the volunteers are already hard at work putting the hand to the last adjustments.

A little further on, the two vans chartered by the foundation for the transport of exhibitors are pouring out streams of exhibitors who arrive singing and dancing, if the festival is not yet officially launched, the party has already begun.

As the hours go by, the small urban center, usually sleepy, fills up with a large crowd of exhibitors, onlookers, media men, bloggers, and curious people who have come to touch this year’s event in the city of Mengong, the Bia So mengong Festival. Some exhibitors are already selling their products, the stand of traditional Bulu dishes or mix, nkonda, mbom kpwem, ebafon and others is a hit. “Good old food like our mothers used to make” exclaims a fifty-year-old man sitting in a nearby drinking establishment. “And she didn’t skimp on the peanuts,” said his neighbor, who chewed a piece of Nkonda (cassava cake) with relish.

Suddenly, as if moved by an invisible signal, a large part of the crowd that had been filling the drinking places, started to move in the direction of the town hall, perched on a hill about a kilometer away. It is that serious things are ready to begin, the official ceremony of launching of the festival, chaired by Mrs. Ngono Mireille sub-prefect of the district of Mengong, which must be held in the room of the acts of the town hall is about to begin.

Traditional and religious authorities, administrative staff, media men, bloggers, curious and onlookers, the room is packed to the point that part of the audience is standing, which does not prevent them from applauding vigorously the various interventions of the panel presiding over the launch of the festival.

After the word of the focal point The Belinga Foundation, Mr. Mfou’ou Samba Joseph, the departmental delegate of arts and culture of the Mvila took the floor to congratulate the organizing team and reassure them of the support of the government. Finally, the mayor and the sub-prefect received the festival on behalf of the people of Mengong without failing to thank the PCA of The Belinga Foundation, Professor Steve Felix Belinga. The ceremony ends with a guided tour of the festival village and some 100 exhibition stands.

Is the day over? Of course not. The center of gravity of the city moves to the municipal stadium of Mengong for the official opening of the tournament Mireille Gracia Belinga. On the program, Red Star Nyengue crosses swords with Mengong United under the eyes of a public of great days estimated at more than 2000 souls. After 90 minutes of an intense match that ended at dusk, Red Star won the game 4 goals to 1.

At nightfall, back to the village of the festival, bathed in always crowded with people who shine with a thousand lights. In its center, on the podium work of local artisans, the first musicians make the balances for the music concert that will soon begin.

Contrary to the forecasts of the organizing team and under the pressure of the public always more numerous now agglutinated around the podium, this first day of the festival envisaged to finish at 8 p.m. will finish only in the early morning.