Greetings Steemians,

I'm thrilled to take part in this contest and to share the rich cultural festival of the wonderful people of Akpaa Mabto community in Obingwa local government area of Abia state, Nigeria called "EKPE". Enjoy the read.

A Special shout out to the organizer, @sohanurrahman.

made with Canva

Brief history of the festival

Ekpe cultural is an ancient cultural festival of the people of Akpaa mabto, a community in the southeast region of Nigeria. It is organized by the "age grade", a group of successful individuals from the community within the same age bracket, and it is held only once in three years.

The festival was introduced in the late 1940s, making it the oldest cultural festival in the community and one of the oldest traditional festivals in Nigeria, as it has been in existence before the Nigerian civil war.

Ekpe Cultural Festival

A year before the festival is held, different age grades groups submit their bids to host the festival, The “EZE” (king) of the community scrutinizes these bids and selects the winner. The most qualified age grade group wins the bid and hosts the festival. A selection is made afterward. The selection is made to determine the most qualified member of the age grade group, who wears the masquerade and leads the “Oku Ekpe dance parade”: a fun dance parade across the whole villages in the community.

What's special about the festival?

Akpaa mbato is a community made up of three villages: Umuomai, Agburuike and Akoli. Ekpe is the only cultural festival that brings these villages together. Every “Ekpe year” one out of the three villages is given the opportunity to host the festival. All the villagers come out in mass to support each during the planning and organization of the festival.

Side Attractions

Different communities within and outside the state comes to witness:

• Oku Ekpe Dance: a special dance performed by the age grade group who organized the festival

• Eruwebe (masquerade of the people): the masquerade that excites the audiences with various dance moves

• A lot of dancing competitions

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

#creativewriting #country #Nigeria #CulturalFestival #Tradition #steemexclusive