The Osun Osogbo festival kicked off on Monday, amidst pomp and pageantry, with the traditional cleansing of the city of Osogbo called ‘Iwopopo,” to mark the official commencement of the 2021 edition of the annual sacrifice to celebrate the Osun river goddess.
A statement by the Media Consultant to the festival, Mr. Toye Arulogun, and made available to journalists in Ibadan, said that the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji, led the Osogbo, Cultural Heritage Council, traditional chiefs, worshippers, devotees, government officials and residents of Osogbo in a symbolic cleansing of the city in a march through designated routes, after which different age and social groups, communities and titled chiefs paid homage to the king seated in the centre of the town.
The statement added that the occasion, which witnessed drumming, singing and dancing, brought the city of Osogbo to a halt for hours, as residents trooped out in obeisance, celebrating the flag off of the biggest annual religious festival among the Yoruba race.
He said other key activities to mark this year’s Osun Osogbo Festival include: the lighting of the 500-year-old sixteen-point lamp, called ‘Ina Olojumerindinlogun,’ slated for Thursday 5th August; ‘Iboriade’, a unique assemblage and display of the crowns of the past Ataojas of Osogbo, for blessings, which will come up on the 9th of August.
Arulogun stated further that the grand finale of the festival, which is being live streamed for local and international audiences of Osogbo indigenes, Osun devotees, worshippers and Yoruba culture enthusiasts in the Diaspora, will come up on Friday, 13 August, and it is the sacrificial offering by “Arugba” at the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.
