As you may have known, I am a Yoruba boy from Western Nigeria. And here we value and do not lose out on tradition, we strive to keep it alive from generation to generation. Likewise, there are different festivals that are celebrated in the various parts of the Yoruba race in the world. I guess you may be confused as to the last sentence. Let me educate you a little bit - Do you know that the Yorubas are not limited to (Western) Nigeria alone? Yes, they are present in other countries such as Cuba, Brazil, The Caribbean etc.
Now back to our festival. The very festival among others which I'd say I love the most and, perhaps, the most popular is the Osun-Oshogbo festival. As the name implies, this festival takes place in Oshogbo, the capital of Osun State, Nigeria; the state got its name from the Osun River flowing through it. The Osun-Oshogbo festival is an annual celebration of the river goddess of fertility - Osun. The celebration is somewhat like a giveback for the support the goddess gives - more than fertility, protection, growth, etc. - to Oshogbo and the Yoruba race at large. To depict cleanliness and godliness, the priest and those involved are usually dressed in white garments and attires.
The state of Osun is quite a unique one in the history and making of the Yoruba. It is believed that a place in the state called Ile-Ife is the origin of mankind. So adding just this and the festival, you can just sum up historic and unique that is.
This festival is quite a popular one whereby people from all walks of life, not only the Yoruba people, attend every year and the number of visitors/tourists increases exponentially. And it is not just a one-day thing, it is usually some days long. One of the things I love about this festival is the different cultural artifacts and other symbolic places that are present in the different scenes of the festival. We have the Sacred Groove, the Osun river, the masquerade outing/dance mentioned above....etc.
The River Osun
The Oṣun River (sometimes, but rarely spelled Oshun) is a river that flows southwards through central Yorubaland in southwestern Nigeria into the Lagos Lagoon and the Atlantic Gulf of Guinea.
Source
It is said to have the ability to make women who may have problems in conceiving do so once they drink out of the water and perform necessary rites.
The (Osun) Sacred Groove
The groove which is a dense forest is obviously sacred. There exist awesome strutures there in. Even due to its natural uniqueness it was made a UNESCO World Heritage Centre in 2005. The groove contains several other entities such as shrines which make it quite a busy place for spiritual activities for priests and others. Some of the occupants of the groove are below:
Speaking nationally, this festival is quite a lucrative site for tourism and tourists which in turn generate revenue. It just sounds like HIVE too, you know, celebrating your tradition and still paying you for it. Although, despite it being very crowdy during the festival periods, it is one thing that everyone looks forward to internationally!
