Welcome to Great Afro Cultural Festivals
At Afro Cultural Hub, we are committed to celebrating and promoting Afro culture as an integral part of global culture. We understand the importance of recognizing and respecting diverse cultures within the Afro community, and we aim to create a more homogeneous environment in a multicultural world.
Join Us for Engaging Festivals
Get ready to immerse yourself in the vibrancy of Afro culture at our exciting festivals. From music and dance to art and literature, our festivals offer a diverse range of experiences that celebrate the richness of Afro heritage.
Discover Our Festivals
The Ojude Oba Cultural Festival among the Yorubas in Nigeria.
The Yurobas are one of the three major tribes in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The Ojude Oba Festival is a renowned cultural festival that takes place in Ijebu Land and is one of the most colorful festivals in West Africa.
It started about a century ago when people paid homage annually to the Oba, the traditional Ruler of the Ijebu Kingdom. It has now transformed into a glamorous gathering where people assemble to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba people.
The Festival is so colorful with different groups of people being identified by the same colors. The different colours that you see during the festival represents different age groups of people known as the iregberebge. These are sons and daughters of Ijebu land and they all congregate in the Oba’s Palace in Ijebu Ode. They are classified by their ages, gender or family lineages. This festival usually takes place on the third day after the Eid El Kabir festival known as Illeya and they all usually assemble at the end of the month of June. Each group usually has its own colour and they march majestically through the arena showing off the Royal looking attires. They are accompanied by Praise Singers who add melodies and most importantly, vibes. Sometimes they are accompanied by their own personal escorts.
Historically, the Ojude Oba festival is an ancient festival celebrated by the Yoruba people of Ijebu-Ode, a town in Ogun State in Southwestern Nigeria. This annual festival usually takes place on the third day after Eid al-Kabir referred to in the Yoruba Language as the Illeya.
The intention was to pay homage and show respect to the Royal Majesty, the Awujale of Ijebu land. It is one of the most spiritual and glamorous festivals celebrated in Ijebu land in Ogun State in Nigeria.
During this festival in which different age groups are known as iregberegbe, indigenes, their friends, and associates parade at the front of the king's palace.
Records indicate that a certain Oba Adetona was the one who in the 18th century brought back the age groups into the festival that is found today among the Ijebus. This has become an integral part of the yearly Ojude Oba festival in Ijebu. The reason raison d’etre for the age groups was to bring development to the community.
Ojude Oba which means the King's Fore-court in the Yoruba language is celebrated with Pomp and pageantry by an estimated 1 million people from different parts of the world. It is celebrated by people of Yoruba origin and specifically by people of Ijebu descent all over the world.
It was formerly a small gathering of people of the Islamic religion and started over a century ago, when the earliest Muslim converts in Ijebu-Ode paid homage to the Awujale of Ijebu land to show their appreciation to the ruler for permitting them to practice their religion.
During the reign of Awujale Ademuyewo Afidipotemole in 1878, a slave named Alli who later became Alli Tubogun began to practice Islam openly. He received his master's blessing to practice his religion without any fear of persecution. Due to his efforts further strengthened by the blessings of his master, Islam grew and attracted many converts. As a result, by 1880, many local mosques had already been built in Ijebu-Ode.
On the 27th of September 1896 when Rev. R.A Conner and Rev. E.W George baptized 41 Ijebu-men restricting them to just one wife out of the many they had earlier married, it caused Chief Balogun Kuku, a prominent Ijebu son to turn his back to Christianity and to embrace Islam. This encouraged polygamy in Ijebu land. Chief Bolagun had over thirty wives, 200 slaves and many devoted followers. The Chief’s extreme wealth added to the respect the Ijebus had for him, attracted many converts to Islam.
The Ojude Oba Festival replaced the Odeda Festival, equally an annual event in which the worshippers of several African Traditional Religions which include amongst others Sango, Egungu, Osun, Ogun, Yemule came together to showcase their identities by dancing in turns to drums and songs in front of the Awujale, Olisa and other important people of Ijebu land.
Chief Balogun Kuku, who was an important participant of the Odeda Festival could no longer participate in the festival following his conversion to Islam decided to replace the Odeda Festival with a new festival which was in conformity with his new religion.
This gave birth to the Ita-Oba Festival which later transformed into the Ojude Oba Festival.
Since then, the festival has been progressively accepted not just by the Ijebus at home, but also by millions of people within and outside Nigeria. Today it attracts approximately a million people, a number which without doubt will increase.
It is speculated to eventually influence to a greater extent the traveling calendar and destinations of pleasure seeking tourists. However at the core, it remains a purely cultural annual rendezvous with lots of spiritual undercurrents.
FEN
The Umkhosi Womhlanga in South Africa
The Zulu Reed Dance Festival
This is an extremely ancient Tradition of the Swazis and the Zulus. It is known as the Umkhosi Womhlanga which literally translates as the The Reed Dance Festival. This annual event takes place at the Enyokeni Royal Palace in Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The name of this Cultural Festival which takes place in the month of September is derived from Riverbed reeds.
According to a publication in FunTimes Magazine on the Cultural Significance of South Africa's Zulu Reed Dance Festival by the Nigerian Cultural Writer Victoria Ezechukwu Nwagwu on Jan 30, 2023, “the Festival is a time-honored tradition that has existed for generations. The festival is held in honor of the Zulu people's ancestors and is a way to give thanks for … bountiful harvests.”
One of the most important aspects of the festival is the Reed Dance itself.
Historically, young Zulu men would go into the mountains to find reeds. These reeds were then used to make weapons and shields. On the other hand , the young Zulu women would also go into the mountains to gather reeds but instead of weaving them into weapons and shields they would weave them into baskets and mats.
This festival which is deeply immersed in culture is intended to pay respect to women and prepare young girls for the next stage in their lives as they mature into womanhood.
The festival also celebrates virginity and fertility and serves as an avenue for young Zulu women to show respect for their elders.
In order to understand the importance attached to this festival by young Zulu Women, it is necessary to place it in context.
The Ancestral link in the African Society is extremely important and this festival doesn’t break away from this reality. The spiritual power of the ancestral link here cannot be overemphasized as it is the only way that Africans relate with the Creator or God.
Showing respect to elders automatically means creating a conducive atmosphere to receive blessings from God the creator with whom the ancestors who passed exemplary lives on earth are actually believed to be in direct communion.
This explains why thousands of young women travel from all over South Africa to participate in the Reed Dance Festival every year.
At the purely physical level, it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many of them. It is an important aspect of their identity already and participating in it gives them that strong sense of belonging to the community.
Another purely ritualistic aspect of the festival is the Virginity Test which is performed on all young women attending the festival.
During the ritual, the virginity of each of the young girls is inspected or checked by a group of older women before they are allowed to participate in the Reed Dance.
It is most beautiful to behold when upon passing the virginity test, “their senior princess leads thousands of Zulu girls, carrying the reeds, singing, and dancing. They appear bare-breasted in traditional accessories defined by their beadwork, which dramatically emphasizes traditional beauty.”
Virginity which is presented here as a state of purity has a strong spiritual significance. It is only the pure who are permitted to take part in the Reed Dance Festival. This festival which also serves as a Right of Passage into womanhood and marriage implicitly shows the purity that a true African Marriage should possess. It upholds matrimony or the family as one of the most holy units in the community since it is from this unit that the rest of the community is eventually built. It is therefore very important that a young Zulu woman gets into marriage as a virgin.
When placed out of the African context or viewed from a Eurocentric perspective, the virginity test that is carried out on the young Zulu women might be seen as strange, savage or even barbaric. However, when the good intentions of the exercise are factored in, the practice can be seen differently.
As a sign of honor and respect, after passing through the virginity test, the young Zulu women present their reeds (a symbol of purity) to the Queen Mother, an important figure in the Zulu community. It is a once-in-life-time opportunity for them to actually live their culture and participate in the traditions.
The Zulu Reed Dance Festival takes about three or four days. Highlights of the festival include art, dance, music and cuisine and it brings communities and families together to celebrate their heritage.
It is also an occasion for families to prepare traditional dishes such as the Umngqusho (a cornmeal dish) and beef stew.
During such historic moments, everyone enjoys music and the dancing goes on well into the night.
Considering that the festival has touches of the rights of transition into marriage life or womanhood especially for young Zulu women, it comes as no surprise that young people also get a chance to meet potential wives and husbands.
Note should be taken that across Sub-Saharan Africa, unmarried people do not traditionally have premarital intimacy. Great care is put in to make sure that newlyweds have the necessary purity to attract appropriate blessings from the ancestral world and from God the creator.
Such annual occasions also serve as an opportunity to discuss contemporary social issues affecting their lives.
Just like with many other cultural Rendezvous across the African continent, the Reed Dance Cultural Festival has progressively become popular with adventure and pleasure seeking tourists.
Irrespective of the increasing tourist interest in the festival and the corresponding economic benefits that come with it, the festival has dominantly remained an annual cultural Rendezvous.
Francis Ekongang Nzante
Centre For Afro News and Culture
The Afro Cultural Hub
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The Ngonnso Annual Cultural Festival in Cameroon
The Ngonnso Cultural Festival is an annual Rendezvous during which the Nso people of the North West Region of Cameroon showcase their Cultural Heritage to Cameroon, Africa and the world. The Nso are people from Bui Division in the Grassfields of the Northwest Region of Cameroon. They speak Lamnso, literally translated as the “Nso Language”.
The largest town in Nso land is Kumbo which is also the second largest town in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. Other smaller towns in Nso land include: Jakiri, Mbiame, Wainama, Mbamnso, Buuh, Kikaikilaki, Kitiwum amongst many others. The administrative head quarters of Bui Division is Kumbo which traditionally is the host to the Ngonnso Cultural Festival, one of the most colorful and exotic Cultural Festivals in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The people are referred to as Banso simply meaning; the people of Nso. The prefix “Ba” means people.
The Ngonnso Cultural Festival started in the 1950’s and the aim was to celebrate the Founder and tribal hero of the Nso people. The personality of this tribal hero has many facets: Mother, Warrior and founder of the Nso people also fondly referred to as Yaya Ngonso.
Traditionally, this festival takes place in December annually.
A very important component of the Nso Culture is the Masquerades or Jujus. Viewed from the Eurocentric or Western perspective, a juju is simply a person disguised in a costume for Traditional entertainment. However in reality, that’s not all about Jujus and masquerades in most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. The spiritual force behind these Masquerades is impressive and the magnitude of its powers and capabilities can hardly be overemphasized.
The Nso Palace is divided into two main houses and each of these houses is represented by a sacred institution. Each house is represented by a masquerade or a juju.
The Ngiri house is represented by a Juju or Masquerade called the Wanmabu while the Nwerong house is represented by another Masquerade or Juju called Nko.
These two houses are actually Sacred Institutions with two types of membership. There are members who attain the status of membership by virtue of their royal birth and there are members who gain membership through the fulfillment of ritualistic initiation rites.
These two houses constitute important components in governing the affairs of the Kingdom. They therefore assist the Ruler of the land, referred to in Lamnso as Nfon in resolving issues such as conflicts and other forms of disagreements.
Another important role of the Masquerades is that of entertainment during key public events. The Ngonnso Cultural Festival stands out as the most important event during which these Masquerades which represent the two most important Secret Institutions of the land come out.
Their outings are usually event packed spiced with lots of dancing and lots of other demonstrations which are dominantly very physical in nature reflecting the vibrant nature of the people of Nso.
The outings of these two Masquerades constitutes a whole process beginning from the inner secret chambers where spiritual fortification and transformation are done before the actual physical exit of the Nko or the Wanmabu.
The anticipation of the throngs of people who come from far and near to witness the cultural activities of the Ngonnso Cultural Festival is always palpable. You can always feel it in the air.
The Nso Culture is extremely rich and colourful and so apart from the Masquerades, there’s a lot more to see during this annual festival. There are lots of male and female dances to watch and colourful, exotic, unadulterated traditional practices that you can find almost no where else in Cameroon.
The festival is carried out in honor of the founder of the Nso Dynasty; Ngonnso. This lady according to records left from Rifem in the Adamawa Region of Cameroon in 1394 alongside her two brothers. These three eventually founded three very important dynasties in present day Cameroon. Mfoomban stopped in Bafia in present day Center Region of Cameroon where he founded the Mbam Dynasty. The other brother called Nchare moved further north towards the Grassfields in what is today referred to as the Noun Division in the West Region of Cameroon and founded the Bamoun Dynasty. Meantime Ngonnso left her brother Nchare and shifted to start the Nso Dynasty not far from her brother in neighboring Bui Division. In fact the Bamoun and the Nso Dynasty are directly connected physically in present day Cameroon and share the same farm lands.
The Ngonnso Cultural Festival is many things in one package. It is culture in its original state. It is the history of a people and an opportunity to reassert their attachment to their essence.
According to an organization called “Bring Back Ngonnso,” the statue of Ngonnso has a central role for the Nso people. This is because she is the Mother Deity. This statue was stolen by the German Colonial Officer, Kurt Von Pavel and donated to Berlin’s Ethnological Museum in 1903.
The Statue was eventually returned to Cameroon.
Francis Ekongang Nzante
Center for Afro News and Culture...
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