22/12/2025
Heard of the Dancing Devils and Old Man Bayka? They are Liberia's unique Christmas character.
You can call him Anti-Santa.
Unlike Santa, who delivers gifts, Old Man Bayka (a.k.a Old Man Beggar) roams the streets on Christmas Day asking people for money and presents for himself. Instead of a jolly red suit and shiny boots, he wears tattered old clothes, sometimes with a fake beard and mask.
Some dancers even perform on stilts or cover themselves in raffia straw, all while being followed by the rhythmic sounds of traditional drums.
But here's the cool part: many masked dancers portraying this figure come from villages in the country's interior and raise money to buy toys to share with children in their communities.
So, when you give to Old Man Bayka, you're actually supporting community efforts and sharing prosperity with those who need it most.
Old Man Bayka has roots in Liberia’s dancing devils, spirits from traditional Poro societies in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast. These dances existed long before colonial times. Blending them with Christmas has created something uniquely Liberian that brings entire communities together.
