Roots To Glory. Benin Voodoo Festival 2024(Jan 8, 2024 – Jan 14, 2024)

Visit the coast for the annual festival of voodoo, where people dressed up in traditional costumes perform unique rituals and ceremonies in devotion to ancient gods. While there, one should expect to bump into the earthly manifestations of voodoo spirits, photograph practitioners, trance-dances and learn about the awesome power that voodoo spirits still hold over people. Mythologized by bloodthirsty Hollywood films, voodoo originates from this region of West Africa, having been carried to New World countries like Haiti by slaves centuries ago. Voodoo is one of the most important religious systems in this region, an animistic religion comprising of many hundreds of different gods, although there is belief in one supreme being. Togo and Benin are dotted with voodoo temples, manned by priests, but voodoo ceremonies can take place anywhere and it is quite possible to stumble upon them throughout the region. Ceremonies can take many forms but often involve followers falling into trances, accompanied by the beat of pounding drums and dancing. Often adepts will become insensitive to pain, slashing themselves with sharp objects or breaking bottles over their heads. Sacrifice also plays an important part of the religion, and although it is most common to sacrifice chickens, many other creatures are also offered up to the gods such as goats, dogs and cats. Great significance is placed on fetishes, inanimate objects where the spirits are said to reside and which can become focal points for worship.