I was just taking a walk on Sunday when i saw a crowd with cains and they were led by a masquerade. I knew it was the egun festival i.e masquerade festival. A time when masquerades will come out to display and entertain people. They beat people with their cains at times if they don't give them money. It's a tradition. You have to settle them with some money when you come across them and if you are not bouyant financially, they may spare you or give you a stroke of the cain. So people run away when they come across these beautiful masquerades. Some of them may look very scary, this make kids cry and run to their mothers when they set their eyes on them (masquerades). Different masquerades come out at different days. Every masquerade has it's own day. Some can pull a lot of crowd and some just operate on a low key. It's fun watching them display. We have old and young masquerades. Whenever the younger masquerades come across the older ones, they bow before them togreet them. In case you ever come across one of them in Nigeria do not forget to pay them a little token.
