OYO STATE: A TOURISM INVESTORS' HAVEN (PART 3) CULTURAL FESTIVALS IN OYO STATE

 

CULTURAL FESTIVALS IN OYO STATE 

When it comes to cultural displays, dance, songs, arts, crafts, drums and festivals, no state can beat Oyo State.

Hence the popular saying ' Aji se bi Oyo laari, Oyo kose bi baba enikokan.’

That is Oyo is a pathfinder, always setting the pace for others to follow.

Almost every town has a unique cultural festival. There are however some festivals common to many.

Some of the most popular festivals that attract tourists to Oyo state include the following. They however need more embellishment and publicity to attract more tourists nationally and internationally.

Oke Ibadan: 

This is an ancient festival that is celebrated annually. The locals, usually in crowds flock to take part in the festivities. The festival’s name means “hill of Ibadan” and it includes legends about the original site of Ibadan, which was located on a hill. Settlers from the east and north gathered on the hill during the 18th century and the town was formed.

The hill has been deserted since then, but the legacy thrives. Oke Ibadan festival includes fertility rites, and honors the founder of Ibadan and the goddess of the hill.

Sango Festival: 

Sango Festival is an annual festival held among the Yoruba people to honor Sango, a thunder and fire deity who was a warlord and the third king of the Oyo Kingdom after succeeding Ajaka his elder brother. The festival is usually held in August at the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo and also observed in over 40 countries around the world.

 

New Yam Festival: 

The New Yam festival is celebrated annually in August. It symbolizes the end of a season of work and the beginning of a new season. Friends and family congregate to feast on meals of yams and there are displays of cultural dances. 

Once the festival is over, old yams are thrown away and the new cycle should begin with a fresh start.

 

The Egungun Festival

This is a popular event in the Yoruba land. It symbolizes the presence of the ancestors amongst the people. They are said to bring good luck, fertility and ward off diseases in the land.

Ibadan is more famous for masquerade festivals than all the other towns inYoruba land, owing to its history of warriors. Some masquerades were used during warfare in times past, such masquerades include Oloolu, Alapansanpa, Obadimeji, etc.

 

Oro Festival in Iseyin,

This was the beginning of the yearly Oro festival in Iseyin, as depicted in one of its panegyrics: Iseyin Oro Omo Ebedi. The Oro festival marks the time during which women in the town are confined in, for some hours daily for a week, and peaked the seventh and seventeenth day with full day confinement. 

In addition, Ebedi endorsed making sacrifice to Oro, a part of rites necessary to make any Aseyin.

 

Igbo-Ora Twins Festival

There are many good and unique tales from Igbo-Ora, a historical city in Oyo State. The most important tale is that the ancient town is a melting pot of twin birth. Truly, the town is reputable among neighbouring communities in Oyo State, Yoruba land, Nigeria and Africa because of the multiple birth records.

The frequency of the multiple births is attracting the world, especially researchers and also makes the city worthy of enlisting in the Guinness Book of Record.ord of twins and triplets in virtually every household.

The first Omituntun Cultural-Tourism Festival which held on 13^th April, 2021  at the Cultural Center, Ibadan witnessed a large turnout of culture lovers from Oyo State and beyond.

The colorful event which include competitions on dancing, chanting of traditional Yoruba folklore among Local Governments and local council development areas in Oyo State.

With more interest shown and investment in Cultural Festivals, government can turn Tourism into a veritable source of Internally Generated Revenue.