The Yam Festival is a popular holiday in Ghana and Nigeria, usually held in the beginning of August at the end of the rainy season. It is named after yams, the most common food in many African countries. It is also known as "Ikeji" in Nigeria. In Nigeria, dancers wear masks that reflect the seasons or other aspects of nature.
Yams are the first crops of the season to be harvested. People offer yams to gods and ancestors before distributing them to the villagers to give thanks to the spirits above them.
Famous quotes containing the word festival:
“Don’t you know there are 200 temperance women in this county who control 200 votes. Why does a woman work for temperance? Because she’s tired of liftin’ that besotted mate of hers off the floor every Saturday night and puttin’ him on the sofa so he won’t catch cold. Tonight we’re for temperance. Help yourself to them cloves and chew them, chew them hard. We’re goin’ to that festival tonight smelling like a hot mince pie.”
—Laurence Stallings (1894–1968)