The Nikai Celebration

Held annually, the Nikai Festival in Babungo (about an hour away from Bamenda) is an event celebrating the traditions of the local people through music and dance. The dancers are insiders of the Ngumba secret society who are subjects of the Fon, the ruler of the region. According to tradition, this dance is a ritual to appease the ancestral spirits of the village so that peace prevails and that the crops are good. The Nikai provided a number of unforgettable sights and sounds that the following pictures attempt to capture.