Yoruba religion

Osun-Osogbo Festival

The Osun-Osogbo festival of the Yoruba, held each August in the sacred grove of the river goddess Ọ̀ṣun at Osogbo, Nigeria: its story, the procession of the votary maid and its place as World Heritage.

Date set each year

Two weeks in August, the date set each year by the king of Osogbo and the priests of Ọ̀ṣun.

In brief

I.The Osun-Osogbo festival honours Ọ̀ṣun, the Yoruba orisa of the river, of fertility, love and wealth.
II.It is held in the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005.
III.Its climax is a procession led by the Arugba, a young votary maid who carries a calabash of offerings to the river.
IV.It draws worshippers and visitors from across Nigeria and the Yoruba diaspora.

Chapter I

What it celebrates

Ọ̀ṣun is the orisa of the river that bears her name, of sweet water, fertility, beauty and wealth. Yoruba tradition tells that when the founders of Osogbo cleared land by the river, Ọ̀ṣun spoke from the water and promised to bless the town and its children if they honoured her.

The festival renews this bond between the goddess, the king and the people.

Chapter II

How it is kept

The festival lasts about two weeks. It opens with the cleansing of the town and the lighting of a sixteen-point lamp, Ina Olojumerindinlogun, followed by the gathering of the crowns of past kings. On the final day a great procession follows the Arugba, a young virgin carrying the sacred calabash on her head to the river, accompanied by drumming, singing and dancing. Worshippers pray at the river for children, health and prosperity.

Chapter III

Around the world

Tens of thousands of people attend, including devotees of Ọ̀ṣun (Oxum in Brazil, Ochún in Cuba) from the Americas, tourists and Nigerian dignitaries.

Questions people ask

Why Osogbo?

Tradition says the town’s founders settled by the river with the blessing of Ọ̀ṣun, who promised to protect them. The festival renews that covenant each year.

Who made the shrines in the grove?

Many of the modern sculptures and shrines were created from the 1950s by the Austrian artist Susanne Wenger, who became an Ọ̀ṣun priestess, and the artists of the New Sacred Art movement.

Sources and further reading

Henry John Drewal and John Pemberton III, Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought (Center for African Art, 1989)
Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Yoruba”

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