Festivals

Ogun Festival
Orosun Festival, Idanre
Igogo Festival, Owo
Olokun Festival, Igbokoda
Obitun Festival, Ondo
Egungun festival, Akure
New Yam Festival, Oka-Akoko

Ogun the god of smithy and lord of Iron is celebrated annually in almost every town and villages in the state. The celebration is an annual remembrance and worship of the god of Iron who was believed to be a hunter who migrated from Ile-lfe to Ire-Ekiti on game search, but he ended up living permanently at Ire-Ekiti and disappeared into the ground when some people of the town deceived him with an empty keg of palm wine. He beheaded all of them with his cutlass according to oral history and disappeared into the ground. In Ire-Ekiti, the main festival in remembrance of the deity comes biennially and usually during the month of August. Ogun is believed to be the god of all those using Iron in their professional work therefore; the deity must be worshipped in order to receive his favour. Ondo Town equally worships Ogun deity. In fact Ekimogun festival is fast assuming the status of a key festival of national interest. And in many towns and villages in the State, ogun festival is usually accorded with masquerades of different designs. During the festival the people also worship their ancestors and with the believe that the ancestors are on earth again to greet, inspect and bless their siblings. These masquerades are regarded as imitations of the ancestors. Dogs, Palm oil, Roasted yam, Palm wine, Cold water and cola nuts are the materials used by Ogun devotees to worship the deity.

According to oral tradition, Orosun was a woman and that she was one of the wives of Olofin Aremitan. When Olofin left Ife and got to Ipetu Ijesha where he stayed briefly, he met Orosun who was said to be very beautiful. Aremitan married her at Ipetu. After some years Aremitan left for Oke-Idanre which he founded. Because of the strong tie between Olofin and Orosun she came to Idanre where she was welcomed to the palace. She stayed in the palace for many years but unfortunately, her marriage was not blessed with any issue. Her position in the palace was enviable. She was held in high esteem by the King to the annoyance of other wives. This developed into a domestic intrigue and Orosun fled the palace and entered into a cave near the present Orosun Hill. The people of Idanre decided thereafter to appease her in exchange for fertility, peace, progress and health. She is worshipped every year. The festival is performed on 15th May of every year.

This is an annual festival in Owo which lasts a total of 17 days featuring a number of ceremonies including the blessing and release of new yams. During the period of celebration, drumming is banned in Owo and instead, metal gongs (Agogo) are used. This was where the name 'IGOGO' was coined. The Olowo, who during the festival usually dresses in Coral Beaded Crown, plaits his hair like a woman with Olowo's dressing. It could be seen here that Owo has some traditional linkage with Benin. The Olowo leads his people including the Chief Priest and the male youths from Iloro quarters to dance round the whole town it comes up in September annually.

This is an annual worship of the Olokun deity who is the goddess of river and seas. The goddess is held in high esteem among the people of riverine areas of the state. This is because the deity has jurisdiction over nearly every important aspect of power to give children to barren women. She is also believed to be in control of ocean waves and could capsize, at will, boats of riches; she is believed to have the power to enrich her devotees.

Obitun is a bridal dance in Ondo Town. This dancing ceremony is supposed to be performed for every maiden in the town before she gets married. The people believe that if the ceremony is not performed for any particular girl, she might end up being childless. However, these days, very few families do perform these ceremonies for their daughters.

The egungun festival is a very popular one in Akure wherein masquerades considered to be spirits of dead ancestors entertain the people.

This occurs on the first Saturday of August. The Oka people go to the palace of the Oba (The Olubaka of Oka) to celebrate with him. People celebrate with one another and pounded yam is always in abundance.