The Ouidah Voodoo Festival (Fête du Vodoun)

What: The Fête du Vodoun or the Voodoo Fes­ti­val of Benin both cel­e­brates the voodoo idea every­thing is spir­it and at the same time seeks to com­mem­o­rate the 60 mil­lion who lost their home­lands and free­dom dur­ing the African slave trad­ing.

The main day of the fes­ti­val begins with the slaugh­ter­ing of a goat to bring in a good fes­ti­val at the main tem­ple, before pro­ceed­ing to the Ouidah  beach, where over the course of the day the locals use danc­ing, singing, horse rid­ing and alco­hol (espe­cial­ly Gin) to tell reli­gious sto­ries and express their cul­tur­al iden­ti­ty,  with priests, chiefs and tourists all attend­ing in a show of uni­ty and cel­e­bra­tion.

As the fes­ti­val enters the lat­er part of the day, fur­ther rit­u­al sac­ri­fices take place, along­side voodoo mag­ic and colour­ful dis­plays fea­tur­ing masks, cos­tumes, and wor­ship­pers – all accom­pa­nied by the ever-increas­ing sound of drums, with some devo­tees trans­form­ing into cos­tumes of the four ele­ments of life and assum­ing the iden­ti­fy of the gods, who will then hide in the forests sur­round­ing the beach­es and leap towards spec­ta­tors who dares get too close.

When: Offi­cial­ly the fes­ti­val lasts a week, but the main day for cel­e­brat­ing the Fête du Vodoun is on the 10^th of Jan­u­ary which is the pub­lic hol­i­day and the day when the cel­e­bra­tions, com­mem­o­ra­tions and activ­i­ties take place.

Where: While Cel­e­brat­ed all over Benin, the main cel­e­bra­tions take place in the port town of Ouidah, which is 42km from Coto­nou. With the cel­e­bra­tions begin­ning in the tem­ple of the pythons and then tak­ing place on the beach and through the streets into the city cen­tre.

Dura­tion: Offi­cial­ly the fes­ti­val lasts for a week, but the peak day is the 10^th of Jan­u­ary — where the cel­e­bra­tions begin in the ear­ly morn­ing and then car­ry on at the beach for the day, before mov­ing into the city cen­tre in the night time.  

Tick­ets:  There are no tick­ets required to vis­it and watch the Fête du Vodoun, although it is strong­ly sug­gest­ed to take the pre­cau­tion of going with a tour group to expe­ri­ence the fes­ti­val for peace of mind.

Need to Know: The Fête du Vodoun can be an uncom­fort­able fes­ti­val to wit­ness, with rou­tine ani­mal sac­ri­fices and the con­sump­tion by priests of blood of the dead ani­mals. It is also com­mon to see acts of self-muti­la­tion by atten­dees who have been over­come by the voo-doo. It is strong­ly rec­om­mend­ed that if wish­ing to attend it is done so with a tour guide and appro­pri­ate secu­ri­ty is tak­en in both attend­ing the fes­ti­val and vis­it­ing Benin.