New Yam Festival of the Igbo

Igbos in diaspora celebrating Iwa-Ji in Dublin, Ireland

The New Yam Festival of the Igbo people (known as Orureshi in Idoma, or Iwa ji, Iri ji, Ike ji, or Otute depending on dialect) is an annual cultural festival by the Igbo people that is held at the end of the rainy season in early August.[1][2][3]

The Iri ji festival (literally "new-yam eating")[4] is practiced throughout West Africa (especially in Nigeria and Ghana)[1] and other African countries and beyond.[5] It symbolizes the conclusion of a harvest and the beginning of the next work cycle. The celebration is a cultural occasion tying individual Igbo communities together as essentially agrarian and dependent on yam.[2]

  1. ^ a b Yam Festival. Retrieved 11 May 2009. Archived 4 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b Daniels, Ugo. African Loft. 6 November 2007. Iwa ji Ofu (New Yam Festival) In Igboland!. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
  3. ^ Onwutalobi, Anthony-Claret. "New Yam Festival - The Official Nnewi City Portal". www.nnewi.info. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  4. ^ Omenuwa, Onyema. TheWeek. 22 Nov 2007. Republished by Philip Emeagwali. Igbo Festival: In Honour of New Yam. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
  5. ^ "BBC Birmingham - 2005". Bbc.co.uk. 6 August 2005. Retrieved 27 September 2012.