Detty December is one of the world’s biggest parties. And that’s a big problem for some

The annual Calabar Carnival in Nigeria's Cross River State is a cornerstone of the celebrations now known as Detty December. (Olympia De Maismont/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

Lagos is busy at the best of times, but as the year draws to a close, the sprawling Nigerian city is transformed. The annual festivities of Detty December bring blazing lights, pounding music and a spike in prices as one of the world’s biggest parties unfolds in nightclubs, bars and streets.

But this year’s celebrations are soundtracked to a jarring backbeat as the country strains under economic pressure, insecurity and the biggest buzzkill of all — a government trying to cash in on the cool.

Detty December, which typically runs from December 6 to 31, sometimes spilling over into January, is a time of excess in Nigeria, with nonstop activities and plenty of naira, the local currency, being splashed around.

It’s a time when members of the Nigerian diaspora descend on its motherland — an influx known as the IJGBs, or the “I Just Got Backs.” They return home bringing traditional Yuletide cheer, a thirst for fun and bank accounts primed for some heavy spending. These ingredients swell Lagos into a carnival hub, its roads jammed and its nights loud with music.

Detty means “dirty,” slang for letting loose — and that’s precisely what happens. There are festivals, concerts, star-studded events, pop-up markets, beach parties and weddings all happening back to back, with each event competing to be bigger, flashier and more memorable than the last.

In 2024, the season delivered one spectacle after another. There was the Flytime Fest which featured Grammy-nominated stars Davido and Olamide. Vibes on the Beach with Wizkid offered a different scene, by the ocean. The city-wide party My Afrobeats Detty December Takeover featured 15 Afrobeat-themed parties that reached into every corner of Lagos.

The 2025 line-up is already set to compete: the Palmwine Music Festival, Peak Detty Vibes, The Bonfire Experience with Victony, Juma Jux Live in Lagos, and the Foodie in Lagos Festival.

‘A fantastic cultural reset’

For Wale Davies, who founded the Palmwine Music Festival in 2017, the rise has been dramatic but not surprising.

“Before there was the official Detty December, December has always been detty in our eyes,” he says. “It has gotten bigger with it now becoming a thing.” Attendance has surged from the early days; the last two years alone have drawn exponentially more visitors, from the diaspora and from within Nigeria.

Some Lagosians plan their entire year around it.

Entrepreneur Omotoyosi Akinkuade, 35, spent months hopping across East Asia for work, with only one break to South Africa. “It was an intense grind traversing China to source for goods,” she says. “With Detty December, I am detoxing from all that completely.”

For Akinuade, the rise of Detty December means she no longer has to organize her holiday get-togethers — now the calendar sorts itself out. “Last year, I honoured a lot of wedding invitations and hung out with my friends. This year, I am looking forward to a few concerts, weddings again, and of course the Detty December Fest.”

Some returnees see the season as more than entertainment and reconnection — it’s a recalibration. Public-relations expert Mimi Egesionu, arriving from New York for the third time, calls it a “fantastic cultural reset.” She prefers the heat of Lagos to winter in New York and plans her nights around concerts and fashion shows.

“The concert scene is truly special,” she says. “It feels like seeing a different global superstar every single night. The collective energy is just unmatched anywhere in the world.”

Even buying her ticket late wasn’t a concern. “Thankfully, there are always deals floating around that time,” she says. With family here providing accommodation, she’s all set for the season.

And it’s not just Nigeria. Ghana hosts its own events for Ghanaians and visitors, including the Baajo International Dance Festival, All Black Party and polo tournaments. The country has seen a steady flow of tourists since 2019, when it launched its “Year of Return,” encouraging people of Ghanaian descent to visit.

The price of fish — and whisky

Although Detty December only seems to have emerged in Lagos in recent years, these end-of-year celebrations are nothing new. For the past two decades, Carnival Calabar has drawn crowds to Nigeria’s eastern Cross River State. Meanwhile, December homecomings have long been part of Nigerian culture, with Lagos serving mainly as a brief stopover before travelers returned to their home states.

That shifted with the global rise of Afrobeats. “People now stay back in Lagos for a few parties which also (attract) the Nigerian diaspora who come with foreign exchange,” says Ikechi Uko, a tourism expert and organizer of the long-running Akwaaba Travel Market. “They convert this to naira and live big. That’s why Detty December now seems like it’s a luxury thing.”

And luxury has consequences. Airfares spiked as early as August. Economy tickets on Nigerian carriers roughly doubled to 350,500 naira. Event tables that once cost 350,000 naira now go for 500,000, a leap of about US$100. A bottle of cognac that usually sells for 55,000 naira can nearly double in price, depending on the venue.

The price creep is everywhere. In the Surulere district of Lagos, Wale Sanni pays 200,000 naira (about US$135) for the same bottle of Glenfiddich whisky in his usual hangout spot that normally costs 170,000, and grilled catfish has jumped from 15,000 to 20,000. That’s the “mainland price,” he notes. On Lagos Island, the city’s commercial heart, the drink can hit 50,000 and the fish 30,000.

Demand spills beyond nightlife. At Kuku’s Hair — a salon chain with a growing diaspora clientele — founder Akunna Nwala Akano says she began taking reservations in August. “We’re fully booked until December 31st,” she says. “Our salons officially close from January 1st to the 17th.” Detty December has pushed their daily client load from 15 to as many as 25.

A darker reality

While some are raking it in, others are squeezed. Tailor Funmi Busari planned to buy an additional weaving machine to meet December demand. She’d saved the 400,000 naira she needed, then the price jumped to 450,000. Sellers are “cashing in on customers willing to pay more because they are making traditional outfits for diaspora clients,” she says.

The Lagos State government says it generated over $71.6 million from tourism, hospitality and entertainment during the 2024 Detty December season.

Earlier in the year, a proposal surfaced to charge diaspora Nigerians a $500 tourism tax. The suggestion, which forecast potential receipts of $165 million, was quickly rejected as “ill-advised and potentially exploitative” by stakeholders. The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission warned that “such advice is counterproductive and would rather discourage than encourage many Nigerians planning to come home.”

Uko, the tourism industry expert, argues the government should not meddle in what has become an organic, people-driven economy. “Nigerians create the success that Nigerians enjoy,” he says, pointing out that the music scene and Nigeria’s successful “Nollywood” film industry have all thrived independently.

“Nollywood, Afrobeat, the things that drive the Detty December culture, none is within the ambit of government. Government’s job is to ensure security and see that safety standards are observed and help talk to businesses to keep their rates down.”

But even the most festive season exists alongside a darker reality. In parts of the country, violent attacks, kidnappings and banditry shadow daily life. The uncertainty has lasted a decade, with no clear end. Still, life goes on — and celebrations continue.

The resilience of Nigerians, says Uko, is embodied in Detty December, with music, food, dance and fashion transcending the country’s greatest woes. “If these few days are what we have, to temporarily forget the gloom, it is worth making the most of them. Putting Detty December off is not going to change the insecurity or make it better.”