ManitobaAn annual harvest celebration brought together Nigerian families and their Manitoba neighbours in Brandon on Sunday. Rooted in centuries-old Igbo tradition, the festival honours the yam as a sacred crop and a symbol of gratitude.Annual harvest tradition connects Nigerian families with Manitoba neighbours through food, dance and songChelsea Kemp · CBC News · Posted: Aug 31, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours agoA procession performs a song and dance to usher in royalty and men with titles at The Umu Igbo Brandon Cultural Day and New Yam Festival Celebration at the Victoria Inn. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)The beat of drums carried across a Brandon, Man., ballroom Saturday as Igbo dancers in bright regalia celebrated the New Yam Festival — a ritual that is both a taste of home for Nigerian families and a new thread in Manitoba’s harvest story.Tobe Ekeneme, the event’s co-ordinator, said the festival celebrates the city’s growing Igbo community through singing, dancing, drumming and food around the season’s yam harvest, while also marking a time of thanksgiving.”We want to make sure that we embrace our culture while also embracing the Canadian culture,” Ekeneme said. “A lot of us are already Canadians.”The Umu Igbo Brandon Cultural Day and New Yam Festival brought together Nigerian families and their Manitoba neighbours in a shared celebration of harvest. Rooted in centuries-old Igbo tradition, the festival honours the yam as a sacred crop and a symbol of gratitude.Sixtus Emedosi announces the start of the New Yam Festival Celebration while playing an ekwe, a Nigerian wooden gong. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)Organizers say the gathering keeps Igbo culture, which is rooted in southeastern Nigeria, alive far from home, while weaving it into the broader cultural fabric of the Prairies — turning a traditional Nigerian thanksgiving into a celebration of diversity in Brandon.Ekeneme said it’s a happy coincidence that the New Yam Festival, a harvest celebration in Nigeria, happens at the same time as Manitoba’s harvest.”[That’s] a good time also for us to have a kind of a fusion of cultures,” he said. “The Canadian culture and the Igbo, celebrating and thanking God for fruitful harvest, and then celebrating life and then thanking God for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us for the year.”Oluchi Eze hands out garden eggs with ose oji, or spice sauce, to festival guests. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)Zizi Onyia, who helped organize the celebration, said the timing shows people from different parts of the world have more in common than they might realize.”We have similar beliefs. For us to have the same harvest during the same time, that just tells you that there’s a common belief somewhere,” Onyia said.She hopes visitors to the festival leave with both a sense of pride and a deeper understanding of Igbo traditions.Stories and songs shared during the ceremonies are a way to transfer knowledge, helping the next generation carry and strengthen Igbo culture in Canada, Onyia said.”We have to bring our children into this, because they’re the ones to take it forward.”Strengthening community tiesEmmanuel Ahaneku, the chair of the Umu Igbo Brandon Association, said the festival speaks to the adaptability of the Igbo community in Manitoba, and also supports broader goals of promoting diversity and inclusivity in Brandon.One of the group’s main goals, he said, is to make newcomers feel supported and help them integrate into the community, while maintaining pride and connection with their heritage.Since its founding in 2021, the Brandon Igbo association has grown to include more than 2,000 registered members and their families, he said.Young dancers perform a traditional Igbo dance. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)In years past, when people came to the city, “the mindset is to stay here for six months and leave Brandon,” he said.”But now you have people staying 10, 20, 30 years,” said Ahaneku. “This is our home.”The event’s chairman, Aloysius Anyichie, said events like the festival, which has grown alongside the community, help ensure people feel rooted in Brandon.”I believe that people who come here would go home appreciating the cultural heritage of people of Igbo land and will appreciate the fact that Igbo is a beautiful tribe in Nigeria with rich culture,” Anyichie said.Festival chair Aloysius Anyiche, right, ceremonially cuts open a yam as Tobe Ekeneme, left, watches. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)Looking ahead, event co-ordinator Ekeneme said with the declaration of Igbo Day in the city of Brandon on Aug. 29, the association plans to keep growing the New Yam Festival celebration in Manitoba’s second-biggest city.”Brandon has offered a lot to us,” Ekeneme said. “Migrating all the way from Nigeria to Canada and then embracing Brandon … we are happy settling in here and giving back to this society.”A procession performs a song and dance. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)ABOUT THE AUTHORChelsea Kemp is a multimedia journalist with CBC Manitoba. She is based in CBC’s bureau in Brandon, covering stories focused on rural Manitoba. Share your story ideas, tips and feedback with chelsea.kemp@cbc.ca.
From Nigeria to the Prairies: Yam festival finds new roots in Brandon
