Modernity and identity preservation: The Ila Oso festival in perspective

Abstract

Modernity has brought about changes that have challenged traditional cultural beliefs, norms, values and practices; it has also provided new opportunities for cultural expression, exchange as well as development. Cultural festivals play a pivotal role in preserving and celebrating a community's heritage, customs, beliefs and values, fostering cultural empathy and unity among diverse groups, and contributing significantly to community development. Even though these cultural festivals create a sense of place and provide useful means of transformation and can meet global as well as local needs, they are faced with either rejection of modernisation or being absorbed into its streams. This paper analyses the Ila Oso festival in Uzuakoli community, a vital cultural marker of the people which celebrates the community's identity, unity, and cultural continuity and also shows how such a cultural event that lasts only for days enlivens towns and villages, engages residents and attracts a large number of people across different communities including tourists. It also explores the festival’s historical evolution and its present manifestation as influenced by modernity. The festival symbolizes Igbo civilization, preservation of cultural heritage and traditional beliefs, intra and
Aniefiok-Ezemonye Preorcjah Vol. 10, 2025
175 Copyright @ Ezenwa-Ohaeto Resource Centre, Awka, Nigeria
inter-communal unity, and the transmission of traditions to future generations. The qualitative method of research was adopted where oral and documentary data collected which includes unstructured interviews with certain persons and relevant published literature were analysed and the content extracted for writing the paper. The findings of the paper reveal that the Ila Oso festival is characterised by rituals and ceremonies which embody the collective identity, beliefs and values of the Uzuakoli community. It also provides insights into how the festival has retained its core cultural elements and remained resilient in the face of emerging modernising forces.