With 18 days to go to the start of the festival, preparations are well underway, from registering exhibitors, building the hangars and podium, preparing the opening parade and registering villages to host the “village evenings”.

In parallel with the preparation of the festival site, the team headed by Claye Atangana continues to register exhibitors. To date, 114 exhibitors have registered, already more than at the same time last year.

As for site preparation, the acquisition of equipment has been finalized. Half of the raffia mats planned to cover the hangars are also available, and transport began this very morning.

A major innovation this year is the parade, which is destined to become an important part of the festival, and is the focus of much attention. Final preparations are underway, and there’s no doubt that on Saturday July 15, festival-goers will be treated to a show that’s set to perfection.

As for the “village evenings”, it’s a frenzy. The organizing team is literally bursting at the seams with requests from villages to be the first to welcome this other major innovation to the Bia so Mengong festival. And it’s not without difficulty that Mr Joseph Mfou’ou Samba, focal point of The Belinga Foundation, manages to convince the various village chiefs that none of them will be forgotten.