Just before the beginning of the rainy season, around the end of August, the people of Arochukwu gather to celebrate their annual New Yam festival—the Ikeji. Arochukwu is a village-group in Abia State of Nigeria that has played a significant role in its region's history. Today, the Aro people consider themselves as part of the Igbo people although the community was formed by the coming together of several different ethnic elements. The Ikeji festival is an elaborate affair lasting twenty-four days (or six Igbo weeks—each week consisting of four days). The twenty-first day of the festival is known as Èké Ékpé and is the main day of spectacle, when residents of Arochukwu and their guests gather at Ámáìkpé, the communal square. One after the other, each of the nineteen Arochukwu villages brings forward one of the many dances or masquerade performances in their repertoire.1 While important events take place...

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