Oroko Festival of Arts and Culture
In Cameroon, the Oroko Festival of Arts and Culture is a famous festival to promote local relations between Cameroon and Cuba. Edmond Motule is the president and head of the Oroko community in Lobe, an estate in southwestern Cameroon. He founded the Oroko Arts and Culture Festival, which takes place here every December 26. The festival aims to bring together 10 tribes of the Oroko community from hundreds of villages scattered throughout the area.
The Oroko Festival of Arts and Culture brings the Oroko people together so that they can exchange cultures, exchange values, and understand each other in order to foster peaceful coexistence and fruitful development. In particular, this popular festival provides a means to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS. In addition, the festival also aims to introduce to the international community the rich cultural customs of the Oroko people, the festival specifically calls on Cubans, who are believed to be of Oroko origin, to better understand their origins.
A highlight of this festival is the colorful parade, in which 10 different tribes display their different traditional costumes, carry signs with cultural messages, and dance and sing in joy. Oroko musicians also play live music throughout the day, and tribal members perform traditional dances. A multilingual competition, awarding the person who can best speak the most dialects of the other Oroko tribes, aims to promote and preserve the vernacular.
- Organization time: December 26 every year
- Location: Lobe, Cameroon
