My name is Mistural, and although my parents are from Ogun State, I was born and raised in Lagos. I attended the Ilaro Polytechnic in Ogun State for my tertiary education. I spent more than 5 years in Ilaro and became acquainted with their traditional culture, food, and language(though not completely)
The Yam Festival is a popular festival in Nigeria, however different towns and states have their own ways for celebrating it.
The Ilaro Yam Festival is a significant way to mark the start and end of the farming season. It's a celebration of the town's achievements, life, culture, and well-being.
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Ilaro is a town in the state of Ogun that is notable for its cultural, agricultural, and goldsmithing businesses. The harvest of fresh yams, one of the country's most popular agricultural products, is a greatly celebrated event every year. This festival is known as Ilaro Day in honor of the town. The festival attracts visitors from all across the country and serves as a platform for young people to demonstrate their abilities and talents to those who attend. I've been to the festival twice and observed how the ceremony is conducted; I'll be summarizing the ceremony and making sure I cover all of the key moments.
Yam Is Always Prepared As Food For The Day
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Yam is being prepared in a variety of ways, including pounded yam, boiled yam, fried yam, and so on. This meal will be provided at no cost to all attendees. I have a friend in Ilaro, and her father is one of the chiefs in Ilaro; because her father is one of the chiefs, there are generally lots of dinners because they will be expecting a lot of visitors from home and abroad. When I'm sick of eating yam, I bring raw yam home for my mother.
Who Opens The Ceremony
The current traditional ruler of land, the Olu of Ilaro, begins the event with a prayer of appreciation for nature's favor and the significance of yam to the community and farmers. The Olu of Ilaro, the chiefs, and the people of Ilaro will then be greeted and respected by invited kings and chiefs from other communities or towns.
Awarding Chieftains And Recognizing Big Investors
During the event, major investors and entrepreneurs, as well as good deeds and achievements in the community, are recognized. Chieftaincy is bestowed upon individuals who have made significant contributions to the town's growth and development. Investors and businessmen that have generated job chances for kids will also be honoured. "Soludero" is a popular Chieftain title given to substantial investors who have made significant contributions to the community.
Dance Performances From Different Towns (Home and Guest)
The festival's delight is celebrated with various dancing performances from various communities. The Ilaro dancing group was the first to perform, displaying various chorography with lovely dancing movements and leg works. Following that, the invited town dancers will perform one after the other.
Children are also given the opportunity to perform and demonstrate their various dancing abilities using Irukere and Traditional beads.
Masquerade Performance
This is the major reason I enjoy this festival; many masquerades from other tribes will be present, and they will then demonstrate their fantastic talents and stunts. Masquerades are said to be deities or ancestral spirits. They use various magical powers and skills to achieve some astounding acrobatics, and these moments are always incredible to see.
There are various masquerades, some of them are as follows:
- Gelede
The Gelede masquerade is said to be a human being wearing a mask that is usually carved out of wood and fashioned to mimic a male or female with various tribal insignia and plaited hair.
This disguise may appear frightening, yet its dancing abilities are exceptional.
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- Egungun Oniye
Egungun Oniye, which translates to "feather masquerade," is a costume made up of various feathers of various colors from various birds. This masquerade is always carried out with drummers singing and drumming together with local horns. The masquerade showcased various dancing abilities and entertained everyone.
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- Igunnuko
The Igunnuko is a remarkable masquerade with unusual abilities; the masquerade can lengthen and shorten itself. It frequently rolls on the ground in enthusiasm to the sound of the talking drums, performing various acrobatics and displaying its dance abilities.
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There are several masquerades present, but the three listed above are the most popular and the ones I recall most vividly.
Agbo Olode For The Final Prayer And Blessing
Agbo Olode is the biggest and most respected masquerade in Ilaro town, the masquerade usually comes out at the ending of the ceremony. Called out in style to come and pray and bless the people of Ilaro. Then the barren women and those that are expecting child will knell Infront of the masquerade for prayers and blessings.
The masquerade will also do the final prayer and wish everyone safe journey back to their various home. The ceremony then comes to an end with music from the DJ, the youths and childrens will come to the front line dancing and vibing to the DJ beats and music.
Yes, I think, after reading numerous cultural festivals post, it is natural and a ritual for the traditional ruler to open a traditional festival.
And masquerades!! I remember how much I dread them when small. Even then my extended family was part of those organizing it and they dare not beat/flog a child from that house. @mistural I won't lie, low-key I still dread them. Don't tell anyone o.😁
your explanation is very detailed, although at first glance I already know about this festival but after reading this post I know more in depth. very good!
The masquerade will also do the final prayer and wish everyone safe journey back to their various home.Really, masquerade do pray too? That's strange to hear. Hope these masquerade doesn't flog like the ones in my own town😀
Ilaro has a nice culture, thanks for sharing with us
very grand festival. you explained the festival activities in detail and interestingly and the activities carried out were very good and stunning. I really like it.
You write very nicely and thank you very much for detail.
Wow amazing, behind the festival that you share which must have such a long submission, I always like your writing style which is so detailed to explain about the topic you are making
It looks so awesome festival.
Very nice festival begins with prayers.
Every thing of festival is very entertaining.
Thank @mistural very much for entertaining community with all details of this Yam Festival.
Really awesome 🥰
Ilaro Town New Yam Festiva is looking so colourful and amazing 😍
I really enjoyed every part of the post dear ❣️
It's really enjoying celibration.
Thanks for sharing such a brilliant post with us ❤️
It seems every region loves new yam festival
It is a great festival
Really nice
I have not attended the new yam festival of another tribe before, I am sure it will be just as interesting as ours.
The colors and just vibrant and make me wonder when this year's festival will hold...
Thank you for sharing this with us.
It always interesting, especially the performance of the masquerades, thier dancing steps and skills are top notch..
Thank you for visiting