New yam festival preparation in my location
Published on HivePostify by @daviduman · Tue Aug 04 2026
In my location, a certain area in Ivo local government area in Ebonyi state, Nigeria, kickstart their annual new yam festival celebration today. At around 12pm today, their normal Eke market was closed and all the buyers and sellers exits the market and it premises while the masquerades moved around to make sure that no one was left before the kingsmen and traditional observers started their normal rituals. Though, the igwe of the community opened the day's activities with prayers, in which kolanut was broken and libations took place.
At around 1pm, they children within the community gathered en masse barefooted to watch the masquerades
(the funniest part is that the masquerade can beat you and you beat the masquerade back, though who cry become the defaulter), while the visitors were told to remain indoors in order not to fall a victim of the ongoing processes. At around 3pm, the traditional observers left their shrine and walked around the market and it premises to carryout a spiritual cleansing, a way of honoring and respecting the culture of their forefathers. After everything, at around 5pm, the eke market was opened for the normal activities. I am living close to the market and I watched and observed every happening from my home. It's was a fun-filled day.
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