New yam festival in Afikpo
New Yam (Ikeji) Festival in Afikpo| Ebonyi Face The yam festival marks the end of an abundant food-producing harvest and also marks the beginning of the traditional New Calendar Year. African people have always had festivals at the time of the harvest. In Afikpo the Yam Festival (Ikeji or Iriji) lasts three days. The festival begins with a cleansing ceremony to honor family members who have died. Farmers give thanks to the gods that brought about the good harvest. This festival is held once a year, usually in August or September, just as the rainy season is coming to an end, and crops are ripe and ready to harvest. There is plenty of maize (corn) as well as other vegetables, such as okra, beans, cassava, and yams. Yams are usually the first fruits of the harvest, the staple food of many peoples of western Africa. The yam is a large tuberous root related to the sweet potato, but not exactly the same. American sweet potatoes are usually orange, but African yams can be white, yellow,...