Basic Igbo Language Foundation Class

IRI JI NDỊ IGBO(NEW YAM FESTIVAL)

The New Yam Festival of the Igbo people (known as, Iwa ji, Iri ji, Ike ji, dgz depending on dialect) is an annual cultural festival by the Igbo people that is held at the end of the rainy season in August.

Igbos in diaspora also celebrate theirs with family and friends. This festival is practiced throughout West Africa (especially in Nigeria and Ghana) and other African countries and beyond.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.

Yams are among the first set of crops to be planted at the beginning of the planting season. Between April and August, early crops such as maize, grandnut, cocoyam, pumpkins and others are harvested and eaten without fanfare. The New Yam Festival is, therefore, a celebration depicting the prominence of yam in the social-cultural life of the Igbo people. In some Igbo communities, all old yams (from the previous year's crop) must be consumed or send to the yam ban(Ọba ji) before the eve of the New Yam Festival].The next day, only dishes of yam are served at the feast, as the festival is symbolic of the abundance of the produce.

Though the style and methods may differ from one community to the next, the essential components that make up the festival remain the same. In some communities, the celebration lasts a whole day, while in many places it may last a week or more. These festivities normally include a variety of entertainments and ceremonies, including the performance of rites by the Eze /Igwe (King), or the eldest man, and cultural dances by Igbo men, women, and their children. The festival features Igbo cultural activities in the form of contemporary shows, masquerade dances by the men, women and Children of the community.

The ritual is performed either by the oldest man in the community or by the king or eminent titleholder.This man also offers the yams to God(CHUKWU OKIKE ) by showing gratitude to the supreme GOD for his protection and kindness in leading them from lean periods to the time of bountiful harvest without deaths resulting from hunger.] After the prayer of thanksgiving to GOD, they eat the first yam. The rituals are meant to express the gratitude of the community to God for making the harvest possible.

The day is symbolic of enjoyment after the cultivation season, and the plenty is shared with friends and well-wishers. A variety of festivities mark the eating of new yam. Folk dances, masquerades, parades, and parties create an experience that some participants characterize as "art"; the colorful festival is a spectacle of exhibited joy, thanks, and community display.

The yam used for the main ritual at the festival is usually roasted and served with palm oil (mmanụ nri).
This event is important in the calendar of Igbo people all over the world.
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Ajọ nwaanyị bụ ọrịa.
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Ọnwụ amaghị D**e.
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Mkpịsị aka aghaghị otu.
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