Before the festival, nobody in the community is supposed to eat from the new yam harvest. The festival marks the official opening of the harvest — the first yam of the season is cooked and shared ceremonially, as a way of giving thanks for the food the earth has provided. After that, everyone feasts. The first-yam ceremony reminds people that food is a gift that comes from hard work, good soil, and favourable rains all working together.
The celebration itself is full of colour and energy. Women in bright cloth cook huge pots of yam dishes — boiled, pounded, or fried — while musicians play and dancers perform. Communities who usually live and work apart come together for the festival days, catching up with relatives and friends, trading goods, and watching competitions. It is one of those events that makes a community feel like a community.
Yams are not the same as sweet potatoes, though people sometimes confuse them. True West African yams are large and often heavier than a baby — some can weigh 30 kilograms or more. They have a brown rough skin and white starchy flesh inside. They can be stored for months without going bad, which made them a historically important food for long journeys and for keeping families fed through the dry season when other crops were not growing.