27/12/2025
Eyo with Pedestal 16ft high
Commissioned by Lagos State
🤖🎄
SON OF MERCY
asirimagazine yo festival performance on Lagos Island.
Date: 31st of January, 1920.
Since its first inception ceremony on 11th of September 1852, the Adamu Orisha Play, also known as the Eyo festival, has remained the foundational core upon which the spirit of Lagos is built. It is a celebration not only of the city’s rich history, but also of its enduring traditions, arts, and cultural heritage, rituals and education passed down from one generation to the other.
The last yo festival, was held on 20th of May 2017 to commemorate Lagos State’s 50th anniversary.
Today, the entire city of Lagos will come alive once again as this rare and sacred spectacle returns. The Èyò will dance through the streets of Lagos Island, clad in flowing white garments, opa staffs in hand, and hats rimmed with distinctive colours, ancestral spirits on full display for all to behold. More than a ceremonial dance or ritual of celebration, the Eyo Festival stands as a powerful representation of the true and original spirit of Lagos.
Mo yò fúnẹ, mo vọ fúnà mi.
text Credit: © ASIRI Magazine 2025n
