SAN­DRA L BLOOD

The spir­it of Ogun will once again be ho­n­oured in T&T this Oc­to­ber, as com­mu­ni­ties across both is­lands come to­geth­er for the sec­ond Na­tion­al Ogun Fes­ti­val. Run­ning from Oc­to­ber 9–20, the cel­e­bra­tion marks the 20th an­nu­al stag­ing by or­gan­is­ers and promis­es a rich blend of tra­di­tion, cul­ture, and ed­u­ca­tion.

While the Na­tion­al Fes­ti­val it­self is on­ly in its sec­ond year, Trinidad has host­ed Ogun fes­ti­vals for two decades, with To­ba­go join­ing the move­ment last year. This year the events will be split be­tween the two is­lands: Ile Isokan will lead cel­e­bra­tions in Trinidad from Oc­to­ber 9–12, while Ogun­da Atorise Tem­ple takes the ba­ton in To­ba­go from Oc­to­ber 16–20.

Themed Ogun Ye! Ogun Ye! Ogun Ye!, the fes­ti­val pays trib­ute to Ogun, the Or­isha (spir­it) of iron, met­al­work, cre­ativ­i­ty, and war­fare. Ogun is revered by Yoru­ba com­mu­ni­ties in Nige­ria and across the di­as­po­ra for his strength and trans­for­ma­tive pow­er. His fes­ti­vals are not on­ly acts of de­vo­tion but al­so af­fir­ma­tions of iden­ti­ty, uni­ty, and shared pur­pose.

Of­fer­ings of hon­ey, palm oil, oti (spir­it), mon­ey, fruits, veg­eta­bles, and—most im­por­tant­ly—“good hearts and clean spir­its” will be made in keep­ing with the sa­cred tra­di­tions.

This year’s spe­cial guest is Oba Isoro Oladapo Olafi­ranye, Os­o­gun Adim­u­la Ile Ife Ag­baye, in­vit­ed by Oloye Ogun­ri­no­la of Ife, the Ile Isokan fam­i­ly, and the Ogun­da Otorise Tem­ple.

The fes­ti­val will fea­ture a mix of spir­i­tu­al ob­ser­vances and cul­tur­al ac­tiv­i­ties, in­clud­ing li­ba­tions, pro­ces­sions, ap­pease­ments, chil­dren’s work­shops, per­for­mances, and tours. To­ba­go’s sched­ule will high­light unique events such as a homage to the fem­i­nine Or­ishas and a men’s mid­night street pro­ces­sion, cul­mi­nat­ing in homage and ap­pease­ment to Ogun Lakaye Os­in Imole.

In Trinidad, well-known cul­tur­al fig­ures such as Za­kiya Wada­da, Ein­tou Pearl Springer (Yéyé Iyalode of Ogun), Aina Olukay­o­de (Yéyé Apesin Obata­la), Atil­lah Springer, and Owo Okiki­o­la Michael Coop­er will lead pre­sen­ta­tions. Coop­er will al­so trav­el to To­ba­go to share his in­sights.

One of the mar­quee events is the Pow­er Sym­po­sium Fundrais­er, themed Forg­ing Eco­nom­ic Path­ways for Peo­ple of African De­scent. It will be held on Oc­to­ber 9 at Cas­ca­dia Ho­tel Con­fer­ence Room, 3–9 pm. The pro­gramme in­cludes lec­tures, en­ter­tain­ment, and din­ner, with tick­ets priced at $500 per at­tendee.

Host­ed by Oni­ka (Yéyé Ogun­funke) At­inu­mo, founder/di­rec­tor of Ìsé Ti Yéyé Òlógùn Wàá Se (ITY­OWS), along­side Oloye Rhon­da (Ifabun­mi) Valen­tine, the sym­po­sium will wel­come speak­ers such as Win­ston S Williams, Shel­don Thomas, Dr Liseli A Fitz­patrick and Rawle Gib­bons.

Awards will be pre­sent­ed to Oloye Valen­tine, Dr Fitz­patrick, Ak­ili Wil­son, Ifawemi­mo Os­o­biye On­ako­maya Ogunk­eye and Isa­iah Vil­lafana, with en­ter­tain­ment by SADU Mu­si­cal Acad­e­my and San Juan South Cul­tur­al Or­gan­i­sa­tion.

For the or­gan­is­ers, the fes­ti­val is as much about cul­tur­al ed­u­ca­tion and em­pow­er­ment as it is about spir­i­tu­al ob­ser­vance. By blend­ing work­shops, per­for­mances, and sa­cred rites, the event seeks to keep an­ces­tral tra­di­tions alive while forg­ing a path for the fu­ture.

With T&T now unit­ed in its ob­ser­vance of Ogun, the fes­ti­val con­tin­ues to grow as a cel­e­bra­tion of her­itage, re­silience, and iden­ti­ty.

Fes­ti­val at a Glance

Trinidad – Oc­to­ber 9–12

Oct 9: Pow­er Sym­po­sium Fundrais­er, Cas­ca­dia Ho­tel, 3–9 pm.

Oct 10–11: Cul­tur­al events, 8 Niles Trace, Febeau Vil­lage, San­ta Cruz.

Oct 12: Pub­lic events at Wood­ford Square (11 am) and City Hall, Port of Spain (2 pm).

To­ba­go – Oc­to­ber 16–20

Oct 16: Open­ing li­ba­tion at Es­planade; Mid­night men’s street pro­ces­sion.

Oct 17: Site vis­its and ven­er­a­tion ac­tiv­i­ties.

Oct 18: Homage and ap­pease­ment cer­e­monies.

Oct 19: Street pro­ces­sion and fes­ti­val launch, Old Sug­ar Cane Mill, Mount St George.

Oct 20: His­toric site tours and clos­ing li­ba­tion.