For the first time Banjul,in The Gambia, will host its Fine Arts Festival to run for two weeks from 4th January 2010. The organiser of the event, Yusupha Kula, claims to be taking a small, local art show and transforming into a fine art festival that will attract up to 150,000 visitors and showcase talented and emerging artists from all over the world.

Of course Gambian artists will also feature highly at the festival which will be hosted at the Alliance Franco Gambienne in Banjul. In addition to traditional galleries and displays, there will be demonstrations, competitions and children's activities. There will also be a celebrity art auction and music entertainment.

All this is very different to a traditional January in The Gambia, where tourists come to enjoy the peace and quiet of a part of the African coast that is blessed with warm, sunny weather during the depths of the cold winters that envelope much of Northern Europe.

The beauty of The Gambia and nearby Senegal and Mali make them all favourite winter sun destinations for Europeans who are happy to travel a little further than Madeira or The Canary Islands to spend their winter break in a hotter climate. The Gambia is currently experiencing its spring weather and daytime temperatures will regularly reach 30 degrees Celsius during December.

Gambia was previously a British Crown Colony until it was granted self-governance in 1962. In 1970 it became a republic within the Commonwealth making it the last ever British Colony.

Flythomascook.com is currently offering flights to Banjul during December from as little as 177.99.