02 · GALLERY
Five frames.
Ouidah is a heat-cracked coastal town on the Bight of Benin, palm-shaded and humid. The festival begins on the beach at dawn, sand still cold under the feet. Drum circles open like a wound: low-slung gangan drums under sharper bell rhythms, women in white headwraps moving in slow concentric circles. The Egungun masks appear out of the palms, six-foot stacks of dyed cloth that spin so fast they become a vertical blur. There is nothing performative about it. This is a working religion.
Approach with respect, ask before filming, and engage a local guide via the Place du Souvenir. The 10 January programme runs from dawn ceremonies on the beach through to night drumming in the town square.
The single most spiritually loaded music gathering on the continent, in a town whose name is synonymous with West African spiritual practice.
10 January, National Vodun Day. Dawn ceremonies on the beach, drumming circles through the day, Egungun masks appearing through afternoon and night. The full festival is one day; the surrounding week has supporting events.
Annual, 10 January. Dawn ceremonies start before 06:00. Festival processions through Ouidah's town centre run all day. Night drumming in Place du Souvenir until midnight.
Fly Cotonou (COO), then drive west 40 km along the coast to Ouidah (45 minutes). Local taxis from Cotonou. The festival uses the whole town; the beach (Plage de Ouidah) is 2 km south of the town centre.