Umatu festival

What it is

Umatu is a yearly ceremony of Onitsha, a town in Anambra State, Nigeria. Five other great ceremonies belong to the same town: the Ofala, the Ife-Jioku, the Osisi-Ite, the Ajachi and the Owuwaji. Umatu is tied to the farm year. People hold it after the first maize has been grown and cut. The Obi, the king of Onitsha, joins in, together with the Ndiche, the titled men who wear red caps. Their shared purpose is to give thanks for a good maize crop. Sixteen days pass from start to finish, so it is one of the longest of the town's yearly gatherings.

Origins and history

The festival is said to draw on Exodus, chapter 23, verse 16, a passage that calls for a harvest celebration and, in autumn, a festival of shelter. That is the origin given for it. At the palace, known as the Ime-Obi, the Obi and the chiefs who wear red caps dance to music called egwu ota. The dancing follows rank. It moves from the lowest chief upward. Onowu Iyasele, the traditional prime minister, holds the highest rank among the chiefs, and his turn to dance comes before the Obi's.

How it is kept

The first day belongs to the Obi alone. He marks the festival in private. Four more days then follow, each given to a different group, and they join the celebration in turn: the Umueze Chima, the Eze-Idi, the Ikpoko Akwukwo Ogili and the Ikpala Isi. At Ime-Obi, the palace, food is set out and shared, prayers are offered for health and good fortune, and the dancing continues. The closing day is given over to clearing away the vegetable containers and packages used during the festival. Sixteen days in all, from the Obi's quiet opening to that final tidy-up.

Food and drink

Corn meal, called nni oka, stands at the heart of Umatu. It is eaten with ofe onino, a soup made to draw, and with what is described as its cabinet, after a step named the Iba. The meal is put before the Obi in a bowl of local make, the ugbugba. When he receives it, he cuts it and passes pieces to everybody there, starting with the titled chiefs. Two drawing soups, dee onino and okwulu, are prepared for the gathering from goats and fowl killed for the occasion. Ukwa, okpodudu and aku are also offered to guests at Ime-Obi.

Today and change

The festival still runs its sixteen days, but it bends to circumstance. In 2020, the Onitsha edition was arranged to meet the safety requirements and protocols brought in for Covid-19. The ceremony also speaks to the farming life of the town. An old saying, ugbo eketalu okwulu olilijie elugonso, describes a field where okro can be picked, and it is read as a sign that yam harvests are near, which points to the New yam festival that follows. So Umatu marks one crop while looking ahead to the next.

How Umatu festival is kept

Only the Obi of Onitsha opens the festival, and he does so privately. Four days of shared celebration follow, with one group taking its turn on each: Umueze Chima, Eze-Idi, Ikpoko Akwukwo Ogili, Ikpala Isi. At the palace, Ime-Obi, corn meal and soups are served, the Obi cuts the corn meal and gives it out, and the titled chiefs receive theirs first. Everyone present joins in prayers for health and prosperity. Chiefs dance the egwu ota in order of rank, with Onowu Iyasele going before the Obi. The sixteenth day ends with the vegetable baskets and wrappings cleared.

When and where

Umatu comes once a year and runs for sixteen days. Its start depends on the maize: people wait until the first maize has been grown and cut, so the date shifts from one year to the next. The Obi's private celebration opens it, and the town's shared days follow.

Umatu is kept in Onitsha, a town in Anambra State, Nigeria. The ceremonies gather around Ime-Obi, the palace of the Obi of Onitsha, and the celebration draws in people from across the town. The record ties it to Onitsha alone. It stands among that town's six yearly ceremonies.

What Umatu festival means

Umatu thanks the land for the maize it has given and asks for health and prosperity in return. For the farming community of Onicha, the festival sits close to the working year. A saying, ugbo eketalu okwulu olilijie elugonso, describes a farm where okro can be picked; it is understood as a sign that yams will soon be harvested and that the New yam festival is coming. The maize feast therefore opens a season of gratitude and points toward the next crop.

Questions people ask about Umatu festival

See also

Igbo New Yam FestivalA harvest thanksgiving and feast marking the first yam crop among the Igbo of NigeriaAfan FestivalA New Year's Day festival of hunting and dances among the Oegworok peopleNew Yam FestivalA yearly harvest thanksgiving across Nigeria, when the first new yams may be eatenKadomatsuA Japanese New Year gateway decoration of pine and bamboo where a visiting deity can rest

Good reading and sources

• Umatu Festival on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-14.