The Eyo festival in Lagos is usually held when an important chief dies. Eyo masquerades traditionally wear white, carry long, decorated sticks and wear hats. Different Eyo groups wear different-coloured hats, each hat representing a particular neighbourhood in Lagos Island.
The white-robed masquerades that take part in the Eyo festival are said to be the spirits of the Lagos people’s ancestors. The most recent Eyo festival held in November and though I couldn’t take pictures of the procession because apparently, the spirits don’t like cameras and you could get beaten (by real people not spirits obviously) if you’re seen taking pictures, I spotted some of the Eyo participants walking alone and convinced them to let me take pictures of them. So in the interest of helping to educate the world about Eyo and how to get pictures of them, here are the photos I took.
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