Igbo Community

About the Igbo People of Southeastern Nigeria

With over 70 million people, the Igbos are the most celebrated dominant African ethnic native geographically situated in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria. Both the people and the language are referred to as Igbo. The Igbo people are considered the most educated and widely traveled people within and outside the shores of Nigeria. The core Igbo homeland comprises five (5) states - Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, and Imo. However, the Igbo people spread across other states in the South-South, South Central, and South-Western parts of Nigeria.

In the Igbo culture, people celebrate different types of festivals; amongst them are the Iwa Ji (New Yam), Iwa Akwa (Rite of passage), Ichi Eze (Royalty), Ekpe and Mmanwu (Masquerade), Igu Aro (Oracle), Inne (War and Peace), Odo (Returning of the dead), Igwa Nshi (Heroic celebrations), Igba Egwu (traditional music/dance), etc. Culture is continuing to evolve, and its transmission and transferable as the Igbos in North Carolina in the upcoming months, weeks, and days will display some of these festivals in Raleigh, the city capital of North Carolina, USA.

About North Carolina Igbo Day festival

Igbo Day festival in North Carolina, USA is a bi-annual event organized by the Igbo Community in North Carolina. The next event will be on June 14th, 2025. It is a free outdoor event celebrating the rich cultural heritage of the Igbo people of Nigeria. The previous Igbo Day attracted over 1,000 attendees and we hope that it will continue to grow.

The North Carolina Igbo Day Festival Corporation was formed by all the Igbo-speaking states of Nigeria living in the Triangle area of North Carolina, USA through the initiatives of Dr. Nnaemeka Iregbu (Ozaramba). Each state organization is represented by its president to ensure continued and unflinching support for the corporation and to demonstrate categorically that the states are the Stakeholders in the Igbo event. The North Carolina Igbo Day Festival has no president except for a coordinator who is the president of the current Igbo State Association and is responsible for organizing the festival for that year. It is a rotational event among the current five Igbo-speaking states in the triangle area of North Carolina viz: Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. The coordinator is vested with the responsibility to preside over the affairs of the year’s event with the collaboration of members of other Igbo-speaking associations. He can assign roles and responsibilities by allowing members to vote among themselves on the sub-committees which will oversee the success of the event.

Reawakening Igbo Cultural Heritage

Igbo Day is a celebration that serves to nurture, reawake, preserve, and promote the rich cultural heritage of the Igbo people of Nigeria resident in the Research Triangle of North Carolina, USA. The event will provide an avenue for individuals and communities of Igbo descent to showcase our traditional values, customs, language, arts, music, and dance. The celebration of Igbo culture will help to ensure that these unique traditions are handed down from generation to generation, thereby maintaining and fostering our identity and preventing the eradication of our culture. The North Carolina Igbo Day Festival Corporation owners are members from the following Igbo-speaking states living in the Triangle Area of North Carolina, USA.

At the North Carolina Igbo Day Festival Corporation, everyone’s opinion counts. We encourage and propel the reawakening of our Igbo cultural heritage – "Onye aghala nwanne ya. Igwe bu ike" We respect our elders and endeavor to pass these values to our younger generation.