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The BIGgest African Festival in West Midlands (Iwa-Ji Festival)
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The Iwaji (New Yam Festival) is a traditional cultural annual event celebrated by Igbo Nigerians worldwide the festival is an opportunity for us to come together and share our culture and heritage. This ceremony has been celebrated for centuries and remains an important tradition in the lives of Igbo people.
During the Iwa-Ji Festival the traditional head of the community heralds the commencement of the festive period by harvesting a new Yam planted specially for the occasion.
The Yam is then prepared, usually by roasting, and used for the ceremonial rites.
At the end of the performance, the traditional head cuts the roasted Yam, takes a piece, dips it in a bowl of fresh palm-oil and proceeds to eat it in full view of everyone present.
This marks the commencement of the festivities. Canon shots are usually fired. The number of shots fired will depend on the number of villages that make up the community. This is followed by assorted forms of merry-making including cultural dances, masquerading, wrestling competitions and age-grade activities.
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In our annual Iwaji ceremony event there’s a variety entertainment including a performance of ceremonial rites by the Igwe (King), cultural dances by Igbo men, women and their children as well as a display of Igbo cultural activities in the form of contemporary shows, fashion parade, and feasting at a grand scale on a wide variety of food making up the menu of the Igbo people.
Below are the links for the BBC WEBSITE feature;
Celebrating Iwaji
In pictures
Your Community index
In the last ten years, we have been the flagship organisation putting on this event for the benefit of all those who love African culture.
This event as a motivational tool provides us with the opportunity to meet, and interact with other high profile and celebrities and share the amazing experience of the evening.
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This event enjoys a very high popularity among African, Caribbean and some Europeans with about 85% annual increase in guest response. We have attracted audiences across the ethnic divide.
In recent years, we have had the Acting High Commissioner, H E Ambassador Dozie Nwanna OON, Mayors from City of Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Solihull and Warwick attending. Activities at the event have been commended for there originality and delivery by all dignitaries who attended.
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The Igbo community
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The Igbo Community Association in the Midlands has an estimated population of two thousand people.
Igbos are resident in all parts of the United Kingdom but in the Midlands they form a closely knit
community of highly enterprising people with numerous professionals spread in the fields of Medicine,
Engineering, Law, Pharmacy, Architecture, Business Administration, Accountancy to name a few.
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The Igbo live in a dynamic society, a complex sociocultural setup they inherited from great ancestors. Archaeological finds in and around Afikpo, Nsukka, Igbo Ukwu and Ugwuele reveal beyond all doubts that human beings existed in Igbo land as far back as 100,000 BC to 50,000 BC. No matter what these ancestors looked like and no matter what languages they spoke, we know that cultural activities are not new to the theatre of Igbo civilization. According to Professor M. A. Onwuejeogwu, Igbo language emerged from the proto-Niger linguistic groups about 8,000 years ago. Probably because of the republican nature of the Igbo people, the degree of difference of varieties of Igbo language spoken today is extensive.(Chinua Achebe)
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Supporting the Igbo community in the West Midlands
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The Igbo Community Association in the Midlands was born out of the pressing need to provide support to the needy members of our community,
especially the elderly, sick and bereaved.
It is a social and welfare voluntary organisation dedicated to the strengthening of the
Igbo community in the West Midlands and the demonstration of Igbo culture to the people of the West Midlands and the UK in general.
The association is non-profit making and seeks to promote equal opportunities amongst its members.
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Our mission:
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To offer support and assistance to members, promote social integration and friendship among members, and other ethnic groups in the wider community.
To promote, develop and maintain Igbo language, culture and tradition within the community, inculcate the Igbo culture, traditions and values in out children, also to serve as a focal point of reference, of direction and collective leadership.
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