When and where is the New Yam festival celebrated?

When and where 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.

What was the New Yam festival and how was it celebrated?

The “little” big town of Ogidi It is renowned for its agricultural produce and arts. One of its popular produce, yam, is hugely celebrated yearly at the harvest of new yams from the farms, in an elaborate ceremony popularly known as the New Yam Festival. The New Yam Festival is celebrated as the town’s day – Ogidi Day.

Why do the Igbos celebrate New Yam Festival?

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.

What happens at the Feast of the New Yam?

The village of Umuofia prepares for the Feast of the New Yam, which takes place just before the harvest. All yams left over from the old year must be thrown away, and everything used in preparing, cooking, and serving yams must be thoroughly washed before being used for the new crop.

Which country celebrates Yam Festival?

Each year on August 15, Benin celebrates the Yam Festival. The event marks the harvest period and draws thousands of Beninois and tourists to Savalou, the city of the Gbaguidi royal family. Savalou is widely known as the cultural and geographic center of yam cultivation.

What does the Yam Festival celebrate?

The Ashanti Yam Festival is an annual celebration of the Ashanti people of Ashanti. It marks the first harvest of yams during the autumn season, after the monsoon season. The yam is the staple food crop in Ashanti and most of Africa.

What is the significance of yams in African culture?

Background. Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a very important common food crop in West Africa. Beyond its food and nutritious values, the ownership and cultivation of yam have many cultural, religious, and social meanings, which may vary between specific ethnic groups and regional areas.

What story is always told at the New Yam festival?

The story that is always told at the New Yam Festival is the story of a wealthy man who had so much foo-foo at his feast that the dinner guests couldn’t see anyone 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.

Is the New Yam festival biblical?

In that way, the new yam festival is now taken, more or less as a Christian festival. The tradition has stuck in most communities, like at Urualla in Ideato, and other communities which now traditionally celebrate the new yam festival today, the August 15th.

What do yams symbolize in Nigeria?

For the Igbo and Yoruba people of Southern Nigeria, it symbolizes prosperity and fertility. For the Igbo people of South Eastern Nigeria, the yam crop is not just a harvest, but a symbol of hard work, wealth, and celebration. Since the early days, the harvest of yams represented the start of a new harvest season.

What unacceptable thing did Okonkwo do just before the Feast of the New Yam?

What unacceptable thing did Okonkwo do just before the Feast of the New Yam? He beat his second wife, Ekwefi, then fired his gun at her.

What do yams symbolize?

Yams are labor intensive and considered a man’s crop. Only men plant yams, and their ability to support their family with their yam harvest is a sign of wealth and ability.

What does yams symbolize in Things Fall Apart?

Seen as a masculine crop, the yams are an indication of the patriarchal society and separation between the genders. It creates a village where women are dependent on the yam farming men to provide for them.