Its another beautiful day to be happy for life.
I will be talking about the topic of the week which is MY CULTURAL FESTIVAL.

Yes I will first tell you about myself I'm an Igbo rooted boy, born and brought up in Igbo land, Afikpo North In Ebonyi State precisely. As someone who was born and brought up in Igbo land I have learnt so many cultures of the igbos.
In this post I'll be talking about the NEW YAM FESTIVAL (IRI JI) which the igbos respect and do a lot.
In my own home town "Afikpo", it is call (Ikeji) New Yam Festival.

In Igbo land Yam is the king of crops being cultivated so that's why yam is being celebrated. Yam is used for many celebrations in igboland, such as marriage ceremony (Nkwanwite) etc. As a farmer that cultivates yam will be well-respected, and you will be given a title in the village. "Ogu ji 1".

During the new Yam festival day, there are so many activities happening that day, such as masquerade parade and other cultural dances and wrestling this is the most fun part to watch. New farmers that came out the highest in yam harvest, will be given a chieftaincy title. This simply to encourage them to do more.

The New Year festival is usually celebrated at the end of the raining season, usually Eke Market day in the last week of August, but first the elders have to meet and fix a date for it. A celebration at the end of yam harvest and the beginning of another cultivation.

So many yams will be displayed during the yam Festival, actually during the olden days, the very best thing to qualify how rich a man is by the amount of yam a man has, does days farmers happens to be the richest in the community. Because their yam barns is very Big.

During the yam festival people have to travel to their various villages to observe this festival. Different communities have a specific date they celebrate their yam, and also have their different ways by which they celebrate their yam Festival. so the neighbouring community have to visit the community that is celebrating to celebrate with them.

Believe me this culture is still being observed up till now. just that farmers dedicated anymore. you can't judge a wealth of a man by how many or how big his yam barns is.

Yam has a very good nutrition value, it can be prepared in So Many ways, like by boiling, porridge, roasting or fried. Roasting of yam is most preferred because you have to eat it with a delicious sauce prepared with palm oil. Yam is very sweet, I must tell you yam are of different types, the most sweetest among all is called "abiahu ji" in Afikpo language.