The Ngondo festival has been held for hundreds of years and is deeply rooted in the belief that the Sawa peoples' ancestors live in the rivers and sea. During the festival, community elders and traditional leaders hold sacred ceremonies by the water to communicate with the ancestors and ask for their blessing for the year ahead. These ceremonies are treated with great respect and reverence.
The most exciting public event of the Ngondo is the canoe races on the Wouri River. Teams from different Sawa communities paddle huge, beautifully decorated dugout canoes at great speed across the river, cheered on by enormous crowds on both banks. The paddlers train for weeks beforehand, and winning a canoe race at Ngondo brings great honour to a community.
Alongside the races, the festival is filled with music, traditional dance, and displays of Sawa cultural dress. Musicians play traditional instruments and women wear beautiful hand-woven fabrics in blue, white and green — the colours of the sea and rivers. Food stalls selling river fish, smoked prawns, and traditional dishes line the banks.
The Ngondo festival draws visitors from across Cameroon and from Cameroonian communities overseas. For Sawa people living in other countries, coming home for the Ngondo is a powerful reconnection with their culture and family. The festival reminds everyone of the deep relationship the Sawa have with water, and the importance of rivers in Cameroonian life.