Ouidah Voodoo Festival

Benin

–Togo

Foto © A. Gagliardo

Trip info

Dates:
03/01/25 – 11/01/25

Duration:
9 days

Price:
From 2.390 € / person

Type:

Ethnographic
Classic

Group:
Min. 4 / max. 16 people

Guide:
Group departure with english speaking guide

In Benin, voodoo is the invisible lintel of society, a granite faith focused on devotion to hundreds of invisible gods, which gives meaning and order to the life of the local population. Every year, on January 10, in the Ouidah region, the Vudu Festival is celebrated, the main event dedicated to this religion.

Voodoo was formally recognized as the official religion of Benin on January 10, 1996, a date that has since been considered a national holiday. On this occasion, ceremonies, sacrifices, songs, dances and large banquets are held, in the presence of the most influential personalities of the country’s religious and political life. Faith, magic and the supernatural are revealed through complex rituals and spectacular performances, between followers who fall into a state of trance and Juju priests in median connection with ancestral spirits. For those traveling to Benin, a stay in Ouidah during the Festival is certainly an opportunity not to be missed!

Request info

Itinerary

Day 1 : Friday 03 January 2025

Departure flight/Cotonou (COO)

Welcome and transfer to the hotel.

Day 2 : Saturday 04 January 2025

Cotonou/Ganvié/Porto Novo/Cotonou

The romantic village of Ganvié, where the Tofinu live on stilts suspended in Lake Nokoué, the Afro-Brazilian architecture of Porto Novo and the Gelede mask dance.

Day 3 : Sunday 05 January 2025

Cotonou/Abomey/Dassa Zoumé

The vestiges of the bloody kingdom of Dahomey and the temple of the chameleon.

Day 4 : Monday 06 January 2025

Dassa Zoumé/Pays Taneka/Natitingou

The sacrifices to the Dankoli fetish and the animist traditions of the Taneka.

Day 5 : Tuesday 07 January 2025

Natitingou/Pays Somba/Pays Tamberma/Sokodé

The tatas, fortress houses of the Somba and Tamberma ethnic groups, the views of the Atakora mountains and the fire dance of the Tem.

Day 6 : Wednesday 08 January 2025

Sokodé/Lomé/Agbodrafo

The fetish market in Lomé, where you will find statuettes stuck with nails and amulets.

Day 7 : Thursday 09 January 2025

Agbodrafo/Togoville/Possotomé

The villages dedicated to voodoo cults of Togoville and Possotomé.

Day 8 : Friday 10 January 2025

Possotomé/Ouidah (Voodoo Festival)/Cotonou

The chants of the adepts, the dances of the women in trance, the temple of the pythons, the ceremony with the Egungun…all this is Ouidah and its Festival!