Trip to Nigeria to attend the Durbar festival in Kano and other emirates
Trip to Nigeria for 9 days to attend the impressive Durbar festivals that take place in Northern Nigeria for the end of Ramadan, one of the most fantastic cultural experiences to be seen in Nigeria and all of West Africa.
On this trip we will attend three different Durbars: Kano, Dutse and Kazaure. Each of them has a different atmosphere. Undoubtedly the most impressive and multitudinous is Kano, where we will participate in several tours. Dutse, a newly created emirate, offers a smaller and more intimate but certainly interesting Durbar with beautifully decorated palaces as a backdrop. Kazaure, a rich and historic emirate, offers in our opinion the most diverse Durbar and perhaps the most spectacular horse races. We will organize visits to these Durbars on the best possible days.
Animism and pre-Islamic rituals in northern Nigeria
As if that were not enough, after a great work of research and documentation in our previous trips we will attend different traditional ceremonies of animist character. One of these ceremonies is that of a small isolated ethnic group that still conserves its rituals and initiation festivals and its sacred masks.
Durbar Festivals on our trip to Nigeria
The Durbar Festival is possibly the most important traditional festival in the north of the country and is celebrated twice a year, on the occasion of Eid-el-Fitr (end of Ramadan) and Eid-el-Kebir (feast of the lamb). Also known as Sallah or Hawan Daushe, it is celebrated in several cities, including Katsina, Sokoto, Zazzau, Bauchi, Bida and Ilorin.
This grand cultural, political, religious and equestrian celebration offers all the tribes of the region the opportunity to come and pledge allegiance to the Emir, in a riot of “pomp” and lavish costumes.
Kano, the great parades of the Sallah Festival
Kano, the oldest city in West Africa, is famous for having the largest Durbar country, they say that during the festival is the largest parade of decorated horses in the world. On this trip to Nigeria we will be able to see hundreds of thousands of people marching on horseback, riders dressed in beautiful cloths and spears under the throbbing sound of the famous traditional trumpets.
Some visitors display their “magic powers”, others play with knives or powder rifles in deafening explosions. A colourful spectacle that will transport you back in time for several days.
If you want to know more about the Durbar in Kano, don’t miss our extensive article here.
Durbar Festival Programme
The Kano Durbar Festival is celebrated for 4 days. Each of the days a different tour takes place at a different time. We will select the best tours and combine them with other visits to other emirates such as Dutse or Kazaure.
Not to be missed at the Durbar in Kano is the day of “Sallait”, a big communal prayer that brings together thousands and thousands of people and continues with a small parade.
Another must-see day during the Kano Durbar is Hawain Dutse. An impressive parade that ends at dusk. The end of each Durbar parade ends with spectacular horse races.
Journey to the Hausa culture
The Hausa culture of northern Nigeria keeps many of its ancient traditions alive. Even in a heavily Islamised region it is possible to find impressive animist ceremonies and rituals related to fire, magic, spiritual possession, transgender people or bodily resistance. We will visit many of these fascinating ceremonies during our trip to Nigeria.
Bori Hausa, possession ceremony
You may be wondering, what is Bori? The Bori religion: gods and traditional medicine.
The Bori religion – “the spiritual force that resides in physical things” – is the belief system of the Hausa maguzawa (maguzawa is the name given to animists).
In the Bori ceremonies of trance and possession, the participants (mediums or Yan Daudu) are possessed by the spirits and communicate with them to achieve the healing of sick people. It is thus a ceremony in which the spirits exercise their power, although they are controlled by the mediums during the process of possession. These spirits are mostly female.
Among the mediums we are struck by the men dressed and made up as women, especially in a region where Islamic law is established. They could be representing Yan Daudu or “sons of Daudu”, one of the most extravagant gods of the Bori pantheon. They are usually men with a feminine appearance who sometimes engage in sex work, although they do not necessarily identify themselves as homosexuals.
Secret encounters with the transgender community in northern Nigeria. Being a member of the Bori allows him to be registered as a “Bori traditional practitioner” and this in turn allows him to express himself openly bodily and aesthetically, being able to wear make-up and dress as a woman during Bori rituals.
Wasan Maquera and Wasan Kari, Hausa ceremonies
During our trip to northern Nigeria we will attend a number of rituals and ceremonies in different places. The Maqera (blacksmiths) are very important figures in the caste groups of the Hausa people, as are the Wanzamai (barbers) and the Mahauta (butchers).
Each of these clans has ceremonial traditions that they perform annually or on important occasions. Most of their traditional activities were eliminated by Islamic teachings, although some are still practiced during some ceremonial activities.
Sharo Fulani Ceremony, the scars of Fulani love
The Sharo Ceremony, the scars of Fulani love
The Sharo ceremony or festivals are deeply entrenched in the traditions of the Fulani people of Northern Nigeria and also Southern Niger.Sharo is a captivating and distinctive cultural tradition of the Fulani people of Northern Nigeria.
Sharo festivals are held on specific occasions during Muslim calendar holidays, harvest festivals or marriage ceremonies. The Sharo is a unique test of virility for young Fulani men. It is a ritual that showcases their courage, resilience and ability to endure pain, while celebrating their cultural identity.
The Nigerian hyena men
Traditionally in Hausa culture we find families of street performers and peddlers of traditional medicine who use these animals as amulets and as the centre of a show, a mixture of street, ritual, savage and also cruel, a practice passed down through many generations of hyena men.
Hausa culture, other visits besides attending the Durbar
The city of Kano is an important economic centre for northern Nigeria and was a crucial part of trans-Saharan trade in pre-colonial times.
In addition to attending the preparations and the Durbar festival in Kano on this trip to Nigeria, we will have the opportunity to visit other highlights of the city, such as its market, its dye wells and we will try to attend some traditional Hausa Dambe boxing.
Dyeing pits for textile manufacturing
The historic town of Kano has for more than six centuries been home to dyeing pits, where beautiful fabrics are produced using ancient techniques. The materials, dyed a distinctive deep blue colour, have long been sold in Africa and the Middle East. In ancient times the Tuaregs, men of the desert, came to Kano to trade dates and camels for the distinctive blue fabrics.
Dambe, boxing hausa
Three centuries old, Dambe is a traditional form of boxing associated with the Hausa people who mainly inhabit northern Nigeria. Although many urban youths, seeking prestige, money or just for fun, immerse themselves in the world of Dambe, even today, most Dambe boxing fighters still belong to the caste groups of the Hausa butchers. Visit our post to learn more about Dambe boxing.
Lagos and the floating neighbourhood of Makoko
Lagos is a megalopolis and is considered the largest city on the African continent. Beyond its size, Lagos is a very interesting stop on a trip to Nigeria. Vibrant, with many faces and contradictions, its artistic activity is already world famous. Art galleries, concerts, underground culture, the Kalakuta Museum where the creator of “Afrobeat” lived, museums, markets..
The city has many more attractions to visit, including fine museums, the Alaba and Balogun markets, and Makoko, a large slum of stilt houses built more than 100 years ago on the Lagos Lagoon. A canoe trip is sure to leave no one indifferent.
