The Yoruba Festival of the River Goddess Oshun is a momentous event to behold due to its amazing cultural exposure.
Held every year in a sacred forest on the outskirts of the southern Nigerian city of Osogbo, the Osun-Osogbo Festival is a two-week-long celebration of the Yoruba river goddess Oshun.
The festival, which begins with a traditional cleansing of the town (Iwopopo) and ends in a procession of the people to the Osun-Osogbo sacred grove, attracts attendees from all over the globe.
Among those in attendance this year were Adebayo Adegbembo of the Lagos-based startup Genii Games Limited, and Nigerian street photographer Ife Martins. Together, they set out to document the festival’s worshippers, spectators and tourists alike.
They began their coverage on Isese Day, a day set aside for traditional worshippers to parade and showcase their faith to the public, and continued the following day during the festival’s grand finale, in which they joined the crowd at the Ataoja Palace in Osogbo waiting for the emergence of the Arugba (votary maid).
“Our objective was inspired by the need to communicate its essence to ordinary people whose interpretation of African traditional festivals and people associated with them is something diabolic and fearful,” Adegbembo explained.
Have a look at the 2015 Osun-Osogbo Festival photographed by Ife Martins below:
