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The new yam festival is very a very symbolic activity in Nigeria and it's always celebrated by different tribes starting from the end of June till October depending on the tribes. One according to the tradition is forbidden from eating newly harvested yam till the end of the festival. Traditionally, rituals are done to appreciate their god of harvest and also to apiece the gods for a more fruitful and prosperous years of harvest in all their endeavors. The Igbo tribe hold this myth that yam was discovered during famine and they were told to sacrifice two humans to make them escape the famine.  So Ahiajoku and Ada was sacrificed; it was  later that where Ahiajoku was buried sprouted out yam and Ada brought cocoyam. So they see the festival as sacred and to be held in high esteem. They do theirs by killing goats and some tribes, the head of the family places 4-8 tubers of new yam to their shrine and kill chicken, the blood of the chicken is poured in the shrine as a sacrifice.