When the country gathers
Benin's festivals are not staged for visitors, which is why they are worth travelling for. Dates follow the civil, church and lunar calendars; we confirm each one as the organisers do.
Vodun Days
Three days in January when Ouidah becomes the centre of the Vodun world.
January 8 – 10, 2027 · Dates to be confirmed by the organisers
Vodun Days grew out of the 10 January public holiday, Benin's national day of traditional religions, into a three-day festival of ceremonies, processions and concerts on the beach at Ouidah. The 2026 edition ran from 8 to 10 January and drew visitors from across West Africa, Brazil, Haiti and the United States. We attend as guests of a temple, whose elders explain what you are seeing and what you should not photograph.
- Where
- Ouidah
- Journey built around it
- Vodun Days
Through the year
Gèlèdé masquerades
Gèlèdé honours the mothers, the ancestral women whose power the society placates with carved masks, song and dance. Performances happen through the dry season in Kétou and the villages around it, usually at night. Dates are set by each society; we are told a few weeks ahead and build journeys around them.
Dates announced a few weeks ahead
Nonvitcha
Nonvitcha means "brotherhood". Since 1923 the fishing peoples of the coast have come back to Grand-Popo for Pentecost: a weekend of processions, Zangbeto night-watchmen masquerades, boat races on the Mono and a great deal of food. The friendliest festival in the country.
May 15 – 17, 2027 · Dates to be confirmed by the organisers
Yam festival of Savalou
In the Collines the yam is the year. On 15 August the king of Savalou tastes the first of the new harvest and the town eats, dances and gives thanks. It falls in the green season, when the hills are at their most beautiful and the roads at their most patient.
August 15, 2027 · Dates confirmed
Gaani
Gaani is the great festival of the Bariba kingdom of Nikki, in the north-east: three days of cavalry parades, drums and homage to the king, held around the Prophet's birthday and so moving each year with the lunar calendar. The riders are the point: hundreds of them, in indigo and red, on horses dressed for war.
Dates announced a few weeks ahead