What month is the New Yam Festival celebrated?
The New Yam Festival popularly known as “Orureshi, Iwa ji, Iri ji, Ike ji, or Otute (depending on dialect) is an annual cultural festival by the Igbo people usually held at the end of the rainy season in early August to October every year.
Where does the New Yam Festival take place?
Explore the rich cultural celebration of a new food season in Ogidi Ijumu town in Kogi state, Nigeria. The New Yam Festival, in the Ogidi community, is an important way of marking the beginning and end of the farming season. It is a celebration of life, accomplishments in the community, culture and well-being.
What is the purpose of the festival of the new yam?
Typically, New Yam Festival provides a heritage of dances, feasting, renewal of kinship alliances, as well as marks the end of one agricultural season with a harvest to express gratitude and thanksgiving to the society, gods, friends and relations.
How is the festival of the new yam celebrated?
A variety of festivities mark the eating of new yam. Folk dances, masquerades, parades, and parties create an experience that some participants characterize as “art”; the colorful festival is a spectacle of exhibited joy, thanks, and community display.
When was the first yam festival?
1812
1 The festival as celebrated at the Ashanti capital of Kumasi in 1812 was luridly described by Bowdich (1819).
Who is in charge of the village in Igbo?
Traditionally, the village was usually occupied by a patrilineage (umunna). Before the advent of colonial administration, the largest political unit was the village group, a federation of villages averaging about 5,000 persons.
What story is always told at the new yam festival Why is it an example of a legend?
The story that is always told at the New Yam Festival is were a wealthy man who had so much foo-foo at his feast that the dinner guests couldn’t see any one at the other side of the table until the food was eaten. This is an example of a legend because it is an exaggeration and has some truth to it.
What was the yam a symbol of?
Yams are a crop grown exclusively by men. Growing yams is labor intensive, and the size of a man’s fields and harvest say much about his work ethic. Yams are grown to gain wealth and also to feed one’s family. They are a symbol of masculinity and ability as a provider.
How many days is the new yam festival?
It takes place over two days and consists of purification rites, presentation rites, divining rites, and thanksgiving rites. In one divination rite, a recently harvested yam is divided into two parts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NNNPJMdOHM