Traditional Festival- EKPE CULTURAL FESTIVAL (A triennial cultural festival of the Akpaa mbato people in Nigeria)
Greetings Steemians, |
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I'm thrilled to take part in this contest and to share the rich cultural festival of the wonderful people of Akpaa Mabto community in Obingwa local government area of Abia state, Nigeria called "EKPE". Enjoy the read.
A Special shout out to the organizer, @sohanurrahman.
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Brief history of the festival |
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Ekpe cultural is an ancient cultural festival of the people of Akpaa mabto, a community in the southeast region of Nigeria. It is organized by the "age grade", a group of successful individuals from the community within the same age bracket, and it is held only once in three years.
The festival was introduced in the late 1940s, making it the oldest cultural festival in the community and one of the oldest traditional festivals in Nigeria, as it has been in existence before the Nigerian civil war.
Ekpe Cultural Festival |
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A year before the festival is held, different age grades groups submit their bids to host the festival, The “EZE” (king) of the community scrutinizes these bids and selects the winner. The most qualified age grade group wins the bid and hosts the festival. A selection is made afterward. The selection is made to determine the most qualified member of the age grade group, who wears the masquerade and leads the “Oku Ekpe dance parade”: a fun dance parade across the whole villages in the community.
What's special about the festival? |
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Side Attractions |
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- Oku Ekpe Dance: a special dance performed by the age grade group who organized the festival
- Eruwebe (masquerade of the people): the masquerade that excites the audiences with various dance moves
- A lot of dancing competitions
That's all for now. Thanks for reading.
#creativewriting #country #Nigeria #CulturalFestival #Tradition #steemexclusive
Pleased to know about the "EKPE" festival of your country Nigeria. You people have to wait three years to celebrate this festival. By the way I am more interested in the dance performance. That dance performance must be inimitable. Thank you for sharing about a traditional festival of your country. Wish you luck for the contest.
Thanks in a bunch @pea07. The dance is so unique that every “Ekpe year” people from other regions of the country come into the community weeks before the days of the event only to watch and witness the masquerades perform these dances.