A Test of Taste

Our interview guest of the week possesses a home-bred knowledge and experience, spiced up with a healthy dose of exposure and keen
observation of world-wide know-how.
For more than five years, Mekonnen Beyene, founder and CEO of TAAF, has participated in and carefully studied best practices in festival planning and implementation. He has attended numerous such events and conferred with festival managers and personnel in an effort to gather information and insights.
However, the foundation of Mekonnen’s knowledge and expertise in events planning and marketing was laid and nurtured here in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. What the CEO learned at home, he embellished with international experience, and now looks homeward with a burning desire to contribute to and benefit from delivering what promises to become a shining achievement.

Where did the idea come from?

Taste of Addis- Africa Festival is a large-scale event modeled after Taste of Chicago, an annual festival that brings together more than 3 million people from all over the world. For over two decades, the Taste of Chicago has served as a vehicle for generating tax-revenues of major significance. It further creates permanent and seasonal employment; affords restaurateurs and other entrepreneurs an attractive business opportunity; and showcases the city as a tourist attraction while enabling the municipal government to render high quality recreational services to the residents of the city. This festival will also spur investment activities, particularly in the hotel, restaurant and entertainment sectors.
Similarly, the “Taste of Addis-Africa Festival” (TAAF) will serve as an epicenter to attract thousands of Ethiopians, including family members in the diaspora and students on their winter break. Undoubtedly, they would find the opportunity to escape to the land of “Thirteen Months of Sunshine” during the rather harsh winter season. At the same time, the Festival will cater to the residents of Addis Ababa - Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians - rekindling their awareness of the hidden-treasures of the city, while opening up venues to witness and partake in trendy recreational activities and culinary products from around the world at affordable prices. This will certainly add to the excitement about the millennium’s celebration extravaganza.

Why did you select the festival model?

Many cities around the world stage festivals in order to positively promote their images and encourage businesses in tandem with investing in the goodwill of their inhabitants. Food, as a hospitality industry, is a stable denominator in the global economy with an ever-increasing demand profile.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has been reputed as the “Gateway of Africa.” As a major African metropolis with rich cultural diversity and history, it is home to many international diplomatic missions as well as continental and international organizations. Inherently, Addis Ababa’s diversity requires an extensive array of cuisines and entertainments. Hence, the city is home to many international restaurants that cater to the diverse community. There is, however, a strong likelihood that the more than 20-30 foreign food and entertainment establishments remain barely known to many Addis-Ababans. With the introduction of “Taste of Addis-Africa Festival” (TAAF), resident foreigners, tourists, the diaspora families, their friends and students from all over the world and Addis Ababans would no doubt be able to appreciate each other’s culture in a joyful environment.
Tell us more about TAAF
We always talk about Addis Ababa as being the capital of Africa and that Ethiopia has 3000 years of history and an ancient civilization. But the truth is not many people know. So we have to convert this into something detectable. In Addis, there exist lots of organizations, more than in Cairo, which has the Arab League and even more than in Brussels which has the EU. Addis needs a higher profile.
I have worked for 2 years for this to happen. We have to prepare a place where the diaspora can enjoy themselves as well as invest for the country’s benefit. We are working with the city administration and we have agreed to make it a life time festival. Furthermore we are also working with the Millennium Secretariat. The company aims to organize grand annual festivals at Meskel Square between September 11-19.
The events include a pot luck of national foods, fire works, children’s play ground, diaspora market place (we will name the markets as Paris little, New York little and so on). At the same time we will have an African market place where African nations can represent their culture and food. Health awareness, African music and drama will also feature in those 8 days.

What efforts have you made to prepare concerts that are affordable to the average person?

We want everybody to participate in this festival. We expect 100,000 people within this 8 day window. We will try our best to make everything affordable.

Was it a co-incidence you chose Baaba Maal for your show on January 30 at Addis Ababa Golf club?
Baaba Maal is an internationally renowned Senegalese singer. He is a handy ambassador of Africa as he speaks both English and French. He will be here for the AU summit and will entertain the African heads of states and Governments. This will be a good opportunity to promote the Ethiopian millennium since diplomatic corps, international organizations and journalists will attend the concert. We have invited more than 500 guests plus Ethiopian singer, Tebebu Workiye, who will entertain our audience along with Baba Maal. It will be a mix of local and continental music.

What are your future plans for TAAF?

It’s not all about the music. It’s about many things. We have lots of plans in art and culture, which includes cultural weddings. We want Ethiopia to get the highest exposure by using all the resources available. That is our target, with tourism, with culture. We are all part of the problem but we still have to be together in finding solutions for our country.