Iri-Ji Ikeji (New Yam Festival)

The annual yam festival is generally applied in communities in Enugu state of Nigeria though at different intervals, usually during harvest period (between July and November).

It is celebrated in appreciation to Chukwuobioma (gods of the land) for his protection all through the farming year till the harvest time.

The celebration is widely believed to open ways for good health and a better farming year ahead. During the new yam, friends and families exchange yams that they harvested and also other agricultural products like livestock.

The new yam festival in communities in Enugu state is largely associated with masquerade display, feasting, dancing and other cultural performances. It is expected that an indigene of Enugu state should not eat yam prior to the new yam festival of his community.

The traditional rulers of various communities will first appease the gods and then offer the new yam to them before he and other members of the community will then begin to eat the new yam in their respective homes.

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