My Culture, My Tradition: The Ekpo Masquerade and Yam Festival Celebration

Greetings, dear friends, how are you all? I hope you all are doing fine and enjoying your day. I wish for all of you good health, wealth and a prosperous time ahead. Today I am here to share with you the first yam festival and Ekpo masquerade celebration we had on Friday 15th August. I hope you all will get time to read and also share your thoughts.

Last Friday, August 15th, marked a significant day in our Ibibio tradition. Use Offot, Eniong Offot and Nsukara Offot launched this year's Ekpo Masquerade to celebrate the annual Yam Festival. This vibrant celebration is deeply rooted in our culture and takes place every year in August, depending on your area. It's always a double event coinciding with the yam harvest season.

In our tradition, farmers patiently wait for the Yam Festival to harvest their yams. The anticipation is concrete, and the excitement is shown as the evident in the various cultural displays that shakes the entire community. The Ekpo Masquerade and several kinds of masquerade create a colorful and mesmerizing spectacle, and this is always a major highlight of the festival.

Villagers all gathered to follow the masquerades, accompanied by the rhythmic beats of traditional drums and Songs.

As the crowd makes its way through the village, the energy is high. People of all ages join in, dancing and singing along to the traditional tunes. The procession after touring the whole village ultimately converges at the village square, where traditional leaders offer prayers and incantations.

With local gin in hand, the traditional lenders appease the ancestral spirits, seeking their blessings for a bountiful harvest, fertile land, and the well-being of all who partake in the farm produce.

I was fortunate enough to capture the essence of this momentous occasion with my phone camera. The sea of faces, the vibrant colours, and the infectious enthusiasm all blend together to create an unforgettable experience.

As I share this glimpse into our Yam Festival and Ekpo Masquerade celebration with all my amazing steemian colleagues, I wish you to share your thoughts and traditions on the subject matter as well. Let us embrace and celebrate our diverse cultural heritage, and may our shared experiences strengthen the bonds between us.

Thank you for going through my post, do had a great time ahead.