Ouidah International Vodun Festival
Ouidah, Benin
Benin’s national celebration of Vodun heritage, centred on the coastal town of Ouidah, with ceremonies, masked figures such as Egungun and Zangbeto, drumming and dancing.
Benin →Through the year
Selected festivals
12 festivals across the region, ordered by time of year.
Draft — compiled from public sources; dates vary yearly, pending client confirmation
Fêtes des Masques (Mask Festival)
Man region, Côte d’Ivoire
A festival of masks in the mountainous Man region among the Dan, Wê and related peoples, in which sacred masks are brought out for dances and ceremonies with religious and social roles.
Côte d'Ivoire →Gelede
Kétou and southern Benin (Yoruba-Nago communities)
A masked ritual and dance of the Yoruba-Nago communities honouring the power of women and mother ancestors. It is inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity; dates vary by community.
Benin →Popo Carnival of Bonoua
Bonoua, Côte d’Ivoire
A cultural carnival of the Abouré people first held in 1972 (‘popo’ means mask in Abouré), with mask parades, traditional dances and artistic competitions.
Côte d'Ivoire →Nonvitcha Festival
Grand-Popo, Benin
An annual gathering of the Xwla and Xwela peoples in the coastal town of Grand-Popo promoting peace, solidarity and cultural unity, blending ceremony with beachside festivities.
Benin →Evala Wrestling Festival
Kara region, Togo
An initiation rite of the Kabye people in which young men wrestle as a rite of passage into adulthood, over several days of ceremonies, drumming and traditional dancing.
Togo →Homowo Festival
Greater Accra (Ga communities), Ghana
A harvest festival of the Ga people whose name means ‘hooting at hunger’, commemorating survival of a past famine. Celebrations include the sprinkling of kpokpoi, drumming and family reunions.
Ghana →Chale Wote Street Art Festival
Jamestown, Accra, Ghana
An annual street-art and culture festival in Accra’s historic Jamestown district, with murals, live painting, performance art, music and fashion drawing local and international artists into public space.
Ghana →Epe Ekpe (Yeke Yeke)
Glidji, near Aného, Togo
The traditional new year of the Guin (Gen) people, centred on the ritual taking of a sacred stone whose colour is believed to foretell the coming year, drawing pilgrims from across the region.
Togo →Agbogbo-za Festival
Notsé, Togo
A festival of the Ewe people at Notsé commemorating their ancestors’ escape from the walled city of King Agokoli and their later dispersal, with processions, dance and historical re-enactment.
Togo →Abissa Festival
Grand-Bassam, Côte d’Ivoire
An annual festival of the N’Zima people in the historic town of Grand-Bassam symbolising reconciliation, during which people may openly confess wrongdoing without reprisal, with drumming, dancing and processions.
Côte d'Ivoire →Hogbetsotso Festival
Anloga, Volta Region, Ghana
Celebrated by the Anlo Ewe to commemorate their ancestors’ migration from Notsé in present-day Togo, with a durbar of chiefs, drumming, dancing and a ritual cleansing of the community.
Ghana →