One picture one story(my community feastival "mkpikpa")

Good day everyone, my friends and my loved ones.

Today I want to share with you the story of my town's feastival (mkpikpa) and how it went.

"Mkpikpa," as we call it, was a feasival being held in my twon umudioka. It was a feast that we celebrated in remembrance of our late farther gods that protected them during the wars of Mkpikpa that guilded them all through the time of the wall, so they celebrated it in order to pay homage to the gods.

It was healed in July every year, and this year's was done in a grant-stly
Some people came back in order to join in the celebration.

It was healed on the 21st of this month (July 21, 2024) and was in a grant status.
It was to start on July 1st with little maskuread.
"masquerades" are some ordened bodies that are assigned to wear a mask in order to entertain people and scare away children.
You will see masquerades in every corner of our town, but those will be the small ones. But on the day, which is July 21, it will then be clebrated on our town's field, and in that field, there were only two buildings: one for the gods, which is called Mkpikpa's shrine, and the other one was like a hall where all the stuff and items for Mkpikpa are kept. Both the cooking and every arrangement are made there.

So on the day, it will start with paying homage to the gods by slaughtering cows and spearding the blood on the god's image, and after that, they will use the cow's meat for cooking.
They will prepare at least three different types of dishes (rice, soup,soup porage, and yam; each must be served with suya and drinks), and then after the cooking, the celebration will be announced.

Then different types of masquerades will start trooping up and down. They will go into the shrine and thank the gods for its protection, and then ask for its guidance throughout the celebration, followed by the elders of the town.

People will start trooping into the field, and in a short time, the field is almost filled to the brim.
and well dressed, no putting of trousers in oyher to avoid being frog by the masquerade.

It was bound by our custom and tradition that during mkpikpa, a girl must not put on trousers no matter where she is going, so as a girl, you are allowed to wear any other dress execpt trousers, and if seen by the masquerad puting on trousers, you will get a very painful beating.
So on that day, masquerades will display some fun acts in order to entertain people and express their desire to vote for them, and any group of masquerades that wins must go home with a token known as "mkpikpa's gift."

The masquerade will be seen as the blessing and the accepted one by the gods of Makpikpa, and the masquerade will be served with great respect.
People will also share gifts with their loved ones in order to express their happiness to them and to the gods for their protection, while some will go and chill in a bar or hotel, depending on your choice.

I and my family went there around 2:00. My dad went to pay homage to the gods on behalf of my family, and then we were entertained by some masquerades and also took some pictures. Then my dad brought us some chilled drinks and suya, which we ate while waiting for the main food.

Some masquerades that display
(1) "izaga," which was known to be very tall, like an electric pole

(2) "ajibuusu" was known to have hairs all over the body.

(3) "Ajo-ofia" was known to carry bushes, dry and fresh leaves, grass, and some dirt.

(4) "Nnunu" was known to be like birds and also have some magical power in order to fry up the sky like a real bird.

(5) "Agu nmanu," which is known to behave like lione and try to devour anyone that comes close to it.
After the entertainment by the masquerades, food will be shared according to the values in our community. It will start with the sharing of rice, followed by soup, and then suya with different types of drinks.

"In fact, our village feastival is very sweet and enjoyable."
After the sharing of drinks, each village will display their dramer and dance as they have performed it according to the alphabetical order.

Finally, the last homage will be paid to the gods of Mkpikpa, and the closing prayer will be: thanking the gods for the successful celebration and asking for their protection while going home to our respective houses. With this prayer, the celebration has been put to an end, and everybody will start going home. Some will branch out to a bar, while others will stay at the hotel in order to enjoy the Mkpikpa feastival to the fullest.

We went into the car, and my dad took us home.
It was my turn to warm up the food, which I did and shared with everyone. I took my own and went to bed because I was really tired of a very stressful and enjoyable day.

I will like to invite my friends @chant @adachukwu @zekanem to join this contest