The 2024 Ojude Oba Festival was a dazzling show of colour, royalty, and art, full of style and grace. Ojude Oba, which means “king’s forecourt” in Yoruba, is a famous yearly celebration held by the Ijebu people of Ijebu-Ode, a big town in Ogun State, southwestern Nigeria. This one-day event bursts with cultural pride, featuring fashion, glamour, and the rich heritage of the Ijebu community.
During the festival, different cultural age groups called regberegbe, made up of locals, their friends, and associates, parade in front of the king’s palace on the third day of Eid al-Adha. Each group, with both men and women, wears the finest clothes of the season, showing off bright traditional styles made from fabrics like sanyan, alaari, etu, and adire, along with modern brocades and laces.
This year’s festival kept the tradition alive, with groups dressed in regal and flamboyant outfits in a stunning array of colours.
The most intriguing part of the Ojude Oba Festival is that the people are the VIPs, not some monarchs or political leaders.
Enjoy the steeze!
