The Holiday of Vodounn
Traditional Day, also known as Fête du Vodoun, is a national holiday in Benin that honors the history of the country’s relationship to the Vodoun religion of West Africa. Every year on January 10, the holiday is celebrated across the nation, although most
Ritual sacrifices are made, and there is also drinking, dancing, and incessant drumming. The magical world is nearby as devotees take on the roles of gods, dressing up and changing into that god as they travel.
The Zangbeto appear to be enormous, walking grass skirts, while the Egungun, who are the most powerful, are totally dressed in vibrant patchwork. They emerge from the woods and parade around the community, springing at any onlooker who approaches too closely. The Egun shouldn’t touch you; otherwise, you risk dying. They execute a sort of dance to scare the crowd as they get to the village’s center, which is typically met with roars and laughing.
A once-seen, never-forgotten experience, Ouidah, Benin’s amazing Voodoo Festival is held there every year on January 10th. A celebration of the voodoo religion and the cults connected to it, it is the must-attend event on the voodoo calendar and attracts fetish priests, adepts, traditional chiefs, and observers from far and wide.
