Enugu was agog as it hosted the 2025 New Yam Music Festival (NYMF) – Iri Ji Grand Finale, a cultural showcase that brought together music, tradition and contemporary production to mark the close of the annual new yam season.
Curated by Heritage & Culture Africa, the festival was described by organisers as a world-class cultural spectacle designed to celebrate unity, abundance and African identity, while encouraging younger generations to preserve and reinterpret indigenous heritage.
According to the organisers, NYMF 2025 underscored the relevance of culture in a modern context. They noted that the festival demonstrated how African traditions can evolve and remain vibrant when young people are actively engaged as participants and storytellers, rather than spectators.
To deliver a global-standard experience, BigSea Promotions served as the official production partner. The company deployed large-scale stage architecture, high-definition LED screens, immersive lighting and premium sound engineering to translate ancestral narratives into a modern live experience. Organisers said the fusion of cultural storytelling with contemporary music and performance created a visually compelling festival that remained deeply rooted in tradition.
Heritage & Culture Africa commended BigSea Promotions for its execution, noting that the production elevated the festival into a premium cultural event and reinforced the company’s standing as a leading producer of large-scale cultural showcases in Nigeria.
Beyond entertainment, the festival placed strong emphasis on community impact and social responsibility. In the build-up to the event, organisers distributed 1,000 tubers of yam to motherless babies’ homes and local markets across Enugu State, extending the spirit of the harvest season to vulnerable groups within the community. The gesture, organisers said, reflected gratitude, generosity and shared responsibility.
The organisers also highlighted NYMF’s growing relevance as a platform for public-sector and private-sector collaboration, stressing its potential to drive youth engagement, tourism development and local economic growth.
They called on cultural institutions, tourism agencies and corporate brands to partner on future editions to ensure African heritage remains sustainable and globally competitive.
As the curtains fell on NYMF 2025, Heritage & Culture Africa said the festival had firmly positioned itself as the grand finale of the harvest season, seamlessly blending culture, music, fashion and community service, while projecting African heritage onto a broader global stage.