29/06/2025
🌍✨ EDO T0 THE WORLD
Edo State is Nigeria’s gateway to ancient civilization, creativity, and living traditions. From royal Benin courts to Esan masquerades, every corner tells a timeless story.
✅ Historical Legacy
Edo State is home to the ancient Benin Kingdom, one of Africa’s most advanced empires. Its world-famous Benin Bronzes grace global museums, testifying to centuries of unmatched artistry and leadership.
✅ Diverse Cultures
Beyond Benin City lies a rich cultural mosaic:
Esan (Edo Central): Celebrated for ancestral festivals, acrobatic masquerades, and enduring lineage systems.
Edo North: Etsako, Owan, and Akoko-Edo peoples with vibrant festivals, music, and scenic landscapes.
Benin (Edo South): Renowned for its monarchy, ritual festivals, and spiritual traditions.
✅ Cultural Festivals Across Edo State
Edo is alive with celebrations that bind communities, honour ancestors, and welcome visitors with song, dance, and colour:
✅ BENIN (EDO SOUTH):
🏛️ Igue Festival:
The Oba of Benin’s personal and royal spiritual renewal.
Spans days of rites, blessings, and processions in royal regalia.
Chieves and subjects pay homage in the Oba’s palace.
Symbolizes unity, prosperity, and continuity of the Benin Kingdom.
🔥 Ugie Festivals:
Includes a series of ceremonial events throughout the year.
Features royal dance performances, historical re-enactments, and sacrifices at sacred sites.
Reinforces Benin’s traditions of loyalty, hierarchy, and spirituality.
🎭 Ekpo and Igbekhue Masquerades:
Ancestral masquerades enforcing moral codes.
Richly carved masks, dramatic dances, and storytelling.
Appear during funerals, celebrations, and cleansing rites.
✨ Emotan Festival:
Celebrates Emotan, the legendary market woman of Benin.
Honours loyalty, commerce, and Benin’s storied past.
✅ ESANLAND (EDO CENTRAL):
💃 Igbabonelimin (Dance of the Spirits):
Acrobatic masquerade famous across Esanland.
Young men perform flips, jumps, and choreographed dances in elaborate raffia costumes.
Drumming and chanting bring the entire village together in spiritual celebration.
Performed at festivals, funerals of elders, and community gatherings.
🕊️ Opodu Masquerade:
Solemn ancestral spirit performance.
Large, layered costumes with authoritative masks.
Moves slowly, commanding respect and invoking ancestral blessings.
Appears mainly during funerals of respected elders.
🌾 New Yam Festivals:
Annual harvest celebrations.
Featuring prayers, communal feasts, and music.
Symbolizes gratitude for abundance and ancestral blessings.
🎶 Age Grade Festivals:
Celebrates communal service and youth transitions.
Includes drumming, dancing, and village-wide feasts.
Strengthens inter-generational bonds and social responsibility.
🌟 Market Day Festivals:
Colorful gatherings with music, dance, and trade.
Reinforces communal identity and economic ties.
✅ EDO NORTH SENATORIAL DISTRICT (ALSO INCLUDED):
🌿 Ukpe Festival (Etsako):
Ancestral veneration with sacrifices, songs, and community thanksgiving.
🎶 Ekpo Masquerades:
Spiritual performances that also entertain and instruct.
🗡️ Ososo Carnival (Akoko-Edo):
Colourful tourism event with parades, music, and mountain vistas.
✨ Ivbiare Festival (Owan):
Celebrates community unity with drumming, masquerades, and feasts.
🔥 Uda Festival (Auchi area):
Honours ancestors with music, dancing, and communal meals.
✅ Art & Craft
Edo’s legacy shines through:
🗿 Benin Bronzes and ivory carving.
🖌️ Fine woodwork and sculpture.
👑 Beadwork that signifies royalty and identity.
🧵 Vibrant textiles and woven mats.
✅ Tourism Potential
🏛️ The Royal Palace of Benin—a UNESCO heritage site.
🌳 Sacred groves, ancestral shrines, historic city walls.
🏞️ Rolling hills and forests in Esanland and Edo North.
🛖 Authentic village life and hospitality.
✅ Warm and Welcoming People
Edo State’s greatest treasure is its people—proud, hospitable, and eager to share their heritage with the world.
✅ Our Invitation to the World
Come to Edo State and experience:
✨ Ancient kingdoms.
✨ Living traditions.
✨ Timeless artistry.
✨ Unforgettable hospitality.
📜 Edo is more than a destination—it is a journey into Africa’s soul.
LUCKIE SMART ABURIMEN,
CEO & Cre8ive Head,
BLACK HITS TV
Dir. of Media,
IMIE- EDO DIASPORA TV
