The Yoruba people celebrate the Sango Festival every year in honor of Sango, a thunder and fire deity who was a warrior and the third ruler of the Oyo Empire, having succeeded his elder brother Ajaka.
Men and women both occasionally dress differently during rituals, and there are more overt gender changes during possession trances. These differences are equally noteworthy. Men and women in Yoruba society are thus afforded institutionalized opportunity inside ceremonial contexts to transcend gender barriers and to express the attributes associated with the other gender, despite the rigorously defined gender roles.”
The Sango Festival celebrations date back a millennium, after the famous Yoruba òrìṣà, Sango, left. Sango is recognized as one of the main founders of the former Oyo Empire and its people.
