The New Yam Festival of the Igbo people (''Orureshi in the idoma area'', Iwa ji, Iri ji or Ike ji, Otute depending on dialect) is an annual cultural festival by the

Igbo people The Igbo people ( , ; also spelled Ibo" and formerly also ''Iboe'', ''Ebo'', ''Eboe'', * * * ''Eboans'', ''Heebo''; natively ) are an ethnic group in Nigeria. They are primarily found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. A ...

that is held at the end of the

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * ''T ...

in early

August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...

.Yam Festival
Retrieved 11 May 2009. Daniels, Ugo. ''African Loft''. 6 November 2007
Iwa ji Ofu (New Yam Festival) In Igboland!
Retrieved 11 May 2009. The Iri ji festival (literally "''new-yam eating''")Omenuwa, Onyema. ''TheWeek''. 22 Nov 2007. Republished by

Philip Emeagwali Philip Emeagwali (born 23 August 1954) is a Nigerian computer scientist. He won the 1989 Gordon Bell Prize for price-performance in high-performance computing applications, in an oil reservoir modeling calculation using a novel mathematical formu ...

Igbo Festival: In Honour of New Yam
Retrieved 11 May 2009. is practiced throughout

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

(especially in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

and

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

)Yam Festival
Retrieved 11 May 2009. and other

African countries This is a list of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa. It includes both fully recognised states, states with limited or zero recognition, and dependent territories of both African and non-African states. It lists 56 sovereign state ...

and beyond, symbolizing the conclusion of a harvest and the beginning of the next work cycle. The celebration is very

culturally Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...

based occasion, tying individual Igbo communities together as essentially agrarian and dependent on yam, the king of crops.Daniels, Ugo. ''African Loft''. 6 November 2007
Iwa ji Ofu (New Yam Festival) In Igboland!
Retrieved 11 May 2009.

Igbo tradition

Yams are among the first set of crops to be planted at the beginning of the planting season. Between April and August, early crops such as maize, cocoyams, and pumpkins are harvested and eaten without fanfare. The New Yam Festival is, therefore, a celebration depicting the prominence of yam in the social-cultural life of the Igbo people. In some Igbo communities, all old yams (from the previous year's crop) must be consumed or discarded on the eve of the New Yam Festival. The next day, only dishes of yam are served at the feast, as the festival is symbolic of the abundance of the produce.Daniels, Ugo. ''African Loft''. 6 November 2007
Iwa ji Ofu (New Yam Festival) In Igboland!
Retrieved 11 May 2009. Though the style and methods may differ from one community to the next, the essential components that make up the festival remain the same. In some communities, the celebration lasts a whole day, while in many places it may last a week or more. These festivities normally include a variety of entertainments and ceremonies, including the performance of rites by the Igwe (

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

), or the eldest man, and cultural dances by Igbo men, women, and their children. The festival features Igbo cultural activities in the form of contemporary shows, masquerade dances, and fashion parades.

Ịwa-ji ceremony

Usually, at the beginning of the festival, the yams are offered to the gods and ancestors first before distributing them to the villagers. The ritual is performed either by the oldest man in the community or by the king or eminent titleholder.Omenuwa, Onyema. ''TheWeek''. 22 Nov 2007. Republished by

Igbo Festival: In Honour of New Yam
Retrieved 11 May 2009. This man also offers the yams to god, deities, and

ancestor An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...

s by showing gratitude to the supreme deity for his protection and kindness in leading them from lean periods to the time of bountiful harvest without deaths resulting from hunger. After the prayer of thanksgiving to their god, they eat the first yam because It is believed that their position bestows the privilege of being intermediaries between their communities and the gods of the land. The rituals are meant to express the gratitude of the community to the gods for making the harvest possible, and they are widely followed despite more modern changes due to the influence of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

in the area. This, therefore, explains the three aspects of the Igbo worldview, that they are

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, religious, and appreciative. The day is symbolic of enjoyment after the cultivation season, and the plenty is shared with friends and well-wishers. A variety of festivities mark the eating of new yam. Folk dances, masquerades,

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

s, and parties create an experience that some participants characterize as "art"; the colorful festival is a spectacle of exhibited joy, thanks, and community display. The yam used for the main ritual at the festival is usually roasted and served with

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

(''mmanụ nri''). Iwa ji also shares some similarities with the Asian

Mid-Autumn Festival The Mid-Autumn Festival (Chinese: / ), also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a traditional festival celebrated in Chinese culture. Similar holidays are celebrated in Japan (), Korea (), Vietnam (), and other countries in Eas ...

, as both are based on the cycles of the

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and are essentially community harvest festivals. This event is important in the calendar of Igbo people all over the world. The harvest of yam and the celebration of the gods of the land through the New Yam festival is an epitome of the people's religious belief in the supreme deity. The coming of the new moon in August marks the preparation for the great "Iri Ji Ohu" festival, but the time and mode of preparation differs from community to community. The New Yam festival is a highly captivating art event. The colourful festival is a visual spectacle of coherence, of dance, of joy and feasting, an annual display for community members, to mark the end of the cultivation season, a festival where the people express their gratitude to those that helped them reap a bountiful harvest. New yam 01.jpg New yam 05.jpg New yam 10.jpg New yam 08.jpg New yam 11.jpg

References

External links

* {{Igbo topics Igbo culture Igbo society Food and drink festivals in Ghana Yam festivals Food and drink festivals in Nigeria August observances Religious festivals in Africa Festivals in Ghana Cultural festivals in Nigeria Festivals in Nigeria

Igbo tradition

Ịwa-ji ceremony

See also

References

External links