Organisers announce date for inaugural Yoruba World Heritage Cultural Festival in Canada

Visible Minority Radio TV Network in partnership with the National Institute for Cultural Orientation and other groups based in Canada, says the inaugural Yoruba World Heritage Cultural Festival (YAWHF)  will commence on August Monday, 19th to Sunday, 25th August, 2024, at the Metro Hall, Toronto Downtown, Ontario, Canada.

The event is being created with a range of community groups and representatives to showcase the ethnic and cultural richness of the Yoruba people, and will also provide an opportunity for visitors to learn more about the rich history of the Yoruba people from Africa.

According to the Executive Director of VMRTN, Kay Alabi Alesh, the YAWHCF will be a week-long event to showcase the values, language, culture, norms of Canadians and everyone from across the world who consider themselves as Yoruba, either by birth, by heritage, by marriage, by association or by affinity.

“Our YAWHCF is being planned as a family-oriented event with cost-FREE entry and participation opportunity to the general public. It is a FREE event for the general public, both Yoruba-language speakers and everyone of all creeds and races.

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“All registered groups from all Yoruba states in Nigeria and countries in the diaspora will have opportunity to exhibit the best in the culture and diversity centred on the non-stop music and dance taking place on both outdoor and indoor stages for 8 days (Monday to Monday), as earlier stated, featuring both renowned local artists and artisans based in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) encompassing fine arts, music, dance, songs, plays and highly-rated performers from different countries of Africa, including participation by foreign artists from those Yoruba-speaking entities,” he added.

Speaking on the event,  Oyetunde Oyewale,CEO of Igbega Yoruba Cultural Heritage Network, a body dedicated to the promotion of Yoruba culture across the globe, said the much anticipated event is also being supported by Canada–based Yoruba Community Association (YCA) with its more than 20 exciting groups on stand-by;  Ijo Orunmila (Templo de Ifa), Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; African House, Trinidad & Tobago; Directrice Therese. Viossi. Paris, France;  Amadec Benin, Benin Republic and Yoruba Cultural Heritage Knowledge & Development Initiative, Lagos, Nigeria.

“ All these groups will form the core background of the enlarged Project Coordination Committee (PCC) made up of community leaders, intelligentsia, royalty, captains of industry, elected and appointed officials, religious and communal leaders, professionals in sundry areas of life and relevance from Nigeria and the diaspora, to make the event a huge success that we expect and hope it to be, year after year.”

Endorsing the event, Executive Secretary/CEO of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation, Otunba Biodun Abioye, commends and applauds the initiative, calling on corporate bodies, well-meaning Nigerians and in diaspora to support the event geared towards the promotion of the diversity of Canadian and Yoruba Culture and Heritage.

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In a letter of endorsement by the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi and signed by Otunba Moses Olalere, Director, Media  and Public Affairs, Oba Ogunwusi said VMRTN has always demonstrated  a strong commitment to promoting cultural awareness and inclusion through its various initiatives and events.

“Their  dedication to highlighting the contributions of visible minority communities  in Canada is commendable and aligns perfectly  with the values of diversity and multiculturalism that define our society,” the statement added.

Worldwide, Yoruba language is spoken by roughly 44 million, plus about 2 million second-language speakers. As a pluricentric language, it is primarily spoken in a dialectal area spanning Nigeria,Benin, and Togo with smaller migrated communities in Côte d’Ivoire,Sierra Leone and The Gambia.

Yoruba vocabulary is also used in the Afro-Brazilian religion known as Candomblé, in the Caribbean religion of Santer in the form of the liturgical Lucumí language and in various Afro-American religions of North America.