By John Silas
The two-day Food and Drink Festival titled GTCO Food & Drink Festival has ended on high tempo and commendations from the attendees.
GTCO Food & Drink Festival, which took place at GTCentre in Victoria between December 20 and 21, 2025, is an annual culinary event in Lagos, Nigeria, hosted by Guaranty Trust Holding, showcasing diverse food entrepreneurs, street food, masterclasses, and local cuisine, with free entry for all to enjoy family-friendly fun and support local businesses.
The 2025 edition was the first-ever Holiday Edition, with over 200 vendors, kids’ play areas, and live DJs.
Lots of fun seekers who visited the arena were thrilled and could not hide their experience. According to Mr Nwafor, “I think the organisation is nice, I just arrived but I know it is good here. There are quite a lot of vendors. It is well organized, we were here last year as well. There are a lot of variety, so we are going to go and check it out. This year, I must confess, there are lots of improvement.”
For Prince Orji, who adequately prepared for the GTCO festival, made enough special provision by loading enough money into his ATM and handing it over to his children to ensure they had maximum fun, “What GTB is doing is something quite commendable, GTB is trying, everything here is perfect and in order.”
Responding to the question if the food and drink at the festival were affordable, he answered, “Well I don’t really know, it is my children that are spending. I handed my ATM to them and they are buying what they like, I don’t even know how much they have spent.”
Jeneth Anet said, “I am always here, it is a very good initiative, I was here in May, I am happy to be here. I think they need to put out more chairs, so that people can sit if they want to do so.”
Speaking on her relationship with GTB, she said, “I am a proud user, I use GT, no issues.”
Fatima Mohammed from MiniLoaf Heaven, was one of the vendors at the food festival and she has amazing testimonials to make about GTCO Food and Drink Festival. “As one of the vendors, it is so amazing, MiniLoaf Heaven is the name of my cake company.
It is so amazing, we have been selling cakes, yesterday was so amazing, we sold out and today, we are going to sell too, I believe. We have MiniLoaf size cakes, they are so moist and so delicious, when you get one, you will come back for more. Everything we do here is more than standard. We have a variety of flavours from vannila to chocolate, carrot, lemon, so many flavours. It is something edible, so no matter the situation people will come and buy.”
She added that GTB is the best bank so far, adding that their customer service and and all their service offerings are topnotch.
The festival continues to underline GTCO’s commitment to SME empowerment by providing zero-cost participation for selected vendors, giving small businesses a premium platform for visibility, revenue generation and growth during the festive season.
For Temitayo Edun, founder of Squeeze Culture, the festival represents both opportunity and learning.
A native of Ikorodu, Edun runs a no-sugar drinks brand that allows customers to choose their preferred fruits for freshly made juices.
Drawing from over 20 years of experience and exposure to high production standards in England, as well as six years in the banking sector, he said the festival has given him a valuable chance to showcase his brand to a wider audience for the first time.
