SEC-S17W3: "National Festival" by @rossnenye

Hello everyone, greetings to the amazing people of this Community. It another week of our engagement contest and I'm so happy writing. Every country has its own unique festival, which brings joy, memories, and unending laughter to its citizens. My Country Nigeria is a very Larger Country, made up of of different ethics groups and over 250 spoken languages. Each ethics groups has a major festival they celebrate on a yearly basis. My tribe, the Igbo tribe celebrates the new yam festival.

Screenshot from Google

What is the national festival of your country? How did it start

Screenshot from facebook

The new yam festival also called "iri ji ofuu" in the Igbo language is a popular known celebration that is unique with the Igbo culture. It is usually celebrated at the end of the rainy season usually around August to mark the beginning of harvest. Yam is the king of food in the Igbo culture because it can be used to prepare different dishes and that is why we celebrate it. The festival is also done to thank God for bountiful Harvest.

The new yam festival dated back in the olden days when our fore fathers celebrates it to mark the end of planting season and beginning of harvest and also to celebrate the importance of yam in the Igbo culture.

How is this festival celebrated? Are there any special rules for celebrating it?

The festival usually starts with the opening prayer said by the most elderly man in the Community thanking the God Almighty for a fruitful harvest.

• The Feast

After the prayers, the feast follows suit. Different dishes prepared with the yam such as Pounded yam and soups, roasted yam and palmoil, porridge yam is brought out for people to eat and enjoy themselves.

• Music and Dance

Source

While the people are eating and enjoying themselves, different cultural clubs and Masquerades comes and entertain the people. Some farmers also comes to display their Yams and the person whose yam is the biggest goes home with prizes.

The rule of the new yam festival is that from the day of the festival, old yam is no longer eaten, only new year is eaten by the villagers,

Are there any special outfits or foods for celebrating your national festival?

The only dish allowed to be eaten on the new yam festival is dishes prepared with yam such as Pounded yam, roasted yam, porridge yam e.t.c.

The only attire allowed for this occasion is cultural wear .

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Tell us about your favorite memory from celebrating your national festival.

My most memorable aspect of the new yam festival is sitting down together and eating with other family members. I also get to see my relatives because they usually come back for the festival. I also love watching the different cultural dance groups perform. I always look forward to the festival every year.

Thanks for reading through my post, I invite @invite @pea07, @richy20 and @peacealexandra to participate in this contest.