NEW YAM FESTIVAL

ORIGIN: The New Yam festival is an annual harvest festival celebrated by the Yoruba and
Igbo people held at the end of the rainy season in early August. The Iwa ji festival (literally
"new-yam eating") is practiced throughout West Africa (especially in Nigeria and Ghana) and
other African countries and beyond, symbolizing the conclusion of a harvest and the beginning
of the next work cycle. The celebration is a very spiritual and culturally based occasion, tying
in communities together as essentially agrarian and dependents on yam

Yams are the first crop to be harvested, and are the most important crop of the region. The
evening prior to the day of the festival, all old yams (from the previous year's crop) are
consumed or discarded. The next day, only dishes of yam are served, as the festival is
symbolic of the abundance of the produce.

Traditionally, the role of eating the first yam is performed by the oldest man in the community or
the king (igwe).This man also offers the yams to god, deities and ancestors. It is believed that
their position bestows the privilege of being intermediaries between their communities and the
gods of the land. The rituals are meant to express the gratitude of the community to the gods for
making the harvest possible, and they are widely followed despite more modern changes due to
the influence of Christianity in the area.

The day is symbolic of enjoyment after the cultivation season, and the plenty is shared with
friends and well-wishers. A variety of festivities mark the eating of new yam. Folk dances,
masquerades, parades, and parties create an experience that some participants characterize
as "art"; the colorful festival is a spectacle of exhibited joy, thanks, and community display.
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Goodwood New Yam Festival

Our research with the help of deceased Dr. J.D Elder, Baby George, and Goldburn Job,
indicates that the New Yam Festival was in fact celebrated on the Goldsboro and Good Wood
estates by unattached plantation workers from West Africa. It was also revealed that both the
Congolese and the Nigerian would have celebrated together as there was a high level of
camaraderie among the ethnic groups.

Further investigation also discovered, Good Wood and Goldsboro now renamed Goldsborough was
the home of Yam famers many years ago. It is on this premise; the residence of Good Wood has
taken a conscious decision to reconnect with its history and heritage, through the staging of
the NEW YAM Festival celebrated by the ancestors. The first attempt to re-enact the New
Yam Festival was in July 1990. The Goodwood Heritage Organizing committee was chaired by
Mr. Goldburn Job, unfortunately due to the attempted coup of that year the festival was
canceled.
In 2013 to 2015 we were successful at staging of the New Yam Festival with the assistance of
The Tobago Festivals Commission (Funding) and external organization such as the Nigeria
High Commission, The Emancipation Support committee and The National Archives of
Trinidad and Tobago.
On the day of the New Yam Festival, Culinary Enthusiast display food and beverage using Yam
as the main ingredient. Please see attached images.

Sources: Dr. J.D Elder, Baby George, Goldburn Job.

a c
1. Jump up to: b Yam Festival. Retrieved 11-05-2009
2. Daniels, Ugo. African Loft. 06-11-2007. Iwa ji Ofu (New Yam Festival) In Igboland!.
Retrieved 11-05-2009.
3. Omenuwa, Onyema. The Week. 11-22-2007. Republished by Philip Emeagwali. Igbo
Festival: In Honour of New Yam. Retrieved 11-05-2009.
a
4. Jump up to: b "BBC Birmingham - 2005". Bbc.co.uk. 2005-08-06. Retrieved 2012-09-
27.