GREETINGS TO EVERYONE
Let me start by wishing you a happy New Week I hope you are all good, and as for me, perfectly fine.
I am really excited to be part of this wonderful program. Although I was not shortlisted for the newbie initiative program, I still see it as fitting to be part of the activities of this wonderful community.
So last week I was able to submit my entry for the last task, which was on the topic `If you were to be president for a day, what would you change?'.
Hence, for this week's topic, I am pleased to share with you my ideas on how A cultural festivals are conducted here.
On this note, I will therefore be telling you all about how a cultural new yam festival is celebrated in my place. Calabar.
First and foremost, I'd like to share my thoughts on the new yam festival: it's simply a cultural celebration held annually to highlight the bountiful harvest of our yam production in my community.This is usually done after the maturity period of the planted yams.
Hence, this is the way it has been conducted:
The cultural new yam festival is held on the last Saturday of every August.
On the Friday before the Saturday celebration, the women especially go to the farm to harvest yams, and during that process of harvesting, any one who harvests will make a sound to alert people close by that she has harvested. After that, everyone will bring their yams to the house, and anyone who wants to eat boiled yam can do so.
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On that particular Friday night, a context known as the "face of New Yam" was held, and only girls were permitted to participate.
Lots of things are carried out during the context, which includes: traditional dance, special talent, creativity, questions and answers, then the first runner-up and the winner are announced. After that, the prices are given to the winners. The winner goes home with a new car, while the runner up goes home with a sum of money.
On Saturday morning, every individual that has a farm will take a tuber of yam to church for blessings of yam, go home after the blessing of yam is done to prepare food, share it with the people you wish to share it with and then prepare for the time fixed to kickstart the event.
When the time for the event arrives, protocol is duely observed. After that, some very important people are called upon to give speeches.
Competitions are set up, and prizes are awarded to the winners.
These are the competitions that are set: best palm wine and taper of the year, best cook of the year, best traditional dancer of the year, best farmer of the year, most talented person of the year. The prices attached are: the best palm wine taper of the year goes home with a big bike, the best cook of the year goes home with a lady bike, the best traditional dancer of the year goes home with a sum of money, the best farmer of the year goes home with a big bike, and the most talented person will be given a scholarship to any school of his/her preference. Then, after the celebration is done, everybody goes home and continues celebrating in their own way.
Reasons why I enjoy the Cultural Celebration
There are numerous reasons why this celebration is values and love my many including my self are.
- It promotes the spirit of togetherness
- Also, it promotes the spirit of oneness and encourages love among one another.
- Also one very interesting thing about this festival is the availability of enough food to eat, wine to drink among others.
- This festival is very much loved by all and promotes a sense of creativity on both old and young individuals.
There are other things I have failed to mention here but I just day this festival is very much well celebrated and honored by everyone who are born of the soil. Though this celebration is quite common among the calabar people but every distinct local government have their own unique way of celebrating it.
THANKS FOR READING
BEST REGARDS @ro-sa