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Italy and Brazil may be known as the flagship countries
that popularized festivals all over the world, but with time, other countries
and societies, including Nigeria are now rising up and boosting their local
festivals so much that they now even stand a chance at competing with the later
festival giants. While Festivals are not new to Nigeria, in recent time, some
major festivals are now popularized so much that tourists from around the world
visit the country annually for the events.
From the Eyo Festival to the different city carnivals,
there is a variety of events and festivals that celebrate either religious
history, music, art indigenous folklore or Nigeria’s cultural heritage, most of
them featuring local music, costumes, parades, dancing, alcohol, and food.
Jumia Travel presents the top 5 of these festivals that are held annually
across the nation.
Durbar Festival
The most ancient and prominent festival in the northern
regions of Nigeria, the Durbar festival is popular in Maiduguri, Kano, Katsina
and Zaria. Originally intended to mark the advent of a war between ancient
kingdoms or regarded as a form of military parade to the emirs and their
councils to showcase the fighters who defended the territories, the festival is
now performed and considered a ceremonial parade. The parades are filed with
aesthetics, colors and it serves to reveal the loyalty of the paraders to the
emir as well as reveals their strength and readiness for war. The ceremony is
major part of the Id el Kabir celebrations as well as the Id el Fitri marking
the end of the holy month of Ramadan and it attracts visitors and tourists year
after year.
Eyo Festival
A regional festival that is unique to the city of
Lagos, Eyo festival stems from ancient Yoruba history and is speculated to be
the inspiration for the modern day Rio de Janeiro carnival in Brazil. The
festival features a major parade with participants dressed in while flowing
robes that cover their entire body, top hats and sticks; and masquerades
referred to as “Eyo” as well as costumed dancers. One of the major objectives
of the festival is to pay homage to the Oba of Lagos as well as. The 24-day
event sweeps through the entire city with focus on the Lagos Island and
attracts a large number of tourists from around the world.
Osun-Oshogbo Festival
A highly cultural and spiritual festival held annually
in Osun State, the Osun-Oshogbo festival is held between the months of July and
August and sees thousands of Osun worshippers, observers as well as tourists
from all over the world who come to join in on the festivities. Celebrated at
the Sacred Osun grove in honour of the river goddess, Oshun of Osun State, the
event spans for two weeks. The first stage features the ‘Iwopopo’ - a
traditional cleansing of the land- at the initial stage, ‘Ina
Olojumerindinlogun’ - the lighting of the 500-year-old sixteen-point lamp-
three days later and finally the ‘Ibroriade’, an assemblage of the crowns of
past rulers, and a committee of priestesses. While the colorful parades and
parties across the city suggest light-hearted merriment, the Festival is a
strong aspect of the Oshogbo culture.
Argungu Fishing Festival
With an origin traced to the visit of the late Sultan
Dan Mu’azu in 1934 who was honored with an akin festival, the Argungu fishing
festival has been around for quite some time. The festival, widely popular in
Kebbi and Sokoto state areas, is a competitive feast that aims to weigh the
fishing skills of the locals. It is usually celebrated between the months of
February and March and also marks the end of a farming season. As music, drums
and dance envelops the air, anxious participants try to outdo each other in a
bid to gain the biggest catch. Other activities, including swimming
competitions, bare-hand fishing, canoe racing and wild duck hunting serve as
side attractions. At the end of the festival, the winner is hugely celebrated,
there is merriment across the towns and the river is sheltered to ensure it
yields fishes for the next festival.
The New Yam Festival
An extremely popular festival that everyone indigenous
to the south-eastern regions of Nigeria look forward to very year, The New Yam
Festival is locally referred to as Iriji-Mmanwu,Iwa ji, Iri ji or Ike ji, by the Igbo speaking areas in the region.
Ripe with masquerades, colorful costumes, cultural dances and displays, the
event symbolizes the end of a harvest and the commencement of the next work
cycle. The celebration is a highly cultural occasion and unifies the different
Igbo communities together as they are essentially agrarian and dependent on
yam.
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