Ede Music City
The heart beat of music in Osun
Sango, a powerful warrior and Magician, is the god of thunder and most colorful personalities of the Yoruba. Sango was the third Alafin of Oyo whose tempestuous reign is associated with innumerable Myths. The chief priest of Sango is Magba, a hereditary title. The celebration of sango came at the end of October or beginning of November every year. The Monument of Sango is erected inside the palace of Timi of Ede.
Aafin Ilu ede
We have identified Ede town in Osun State, Nigeria, as a potential music tourism destination within the state’s heritage trail. At the heart of Ede lies Aafin Ilu, a site that houses all the traditional Yoruba drums, each with significant historical importance. Every year, the town hosts a Drums Festival, attracting drummers from across the state and beyond.
In 2025 a global weekend festival needs to be launched to officially promote the beautiful nature of this kind of music via a series of live performances most specially a Drums Ensemble that showcases Ede’s rich culture to tourists within and outside the country for those who are interested in spectating, learning the culture and practice of drums in Yorubaland.
The Proposed Music Policy Resilience Network kick off on the 1st of November 2024 and is scheduled to position Ede as a cultural music city from Africa.
The Center for Music Ecosystems is a global research and development organization whose objective is to understand, advance, and enrich music ecosystems and increase their role and impact on the economic and social development of communities across the world. The Center for Music Ecosystems is excited to lead this timely project in Defining Resilience in Music and Creative Ecosystems in Ede, Osun State.
While pursuing a collaborative approach to support the potentials of Ede as a cultural hotspot city, we encountered challenges, highlighting the need to further position Ede, Osun state as a recognized music ecosystem globally. Thus, this phase builds upon the need to establish Ede’s music culture with Afin Ilu playing a central role. Afin Ilu, with its deep-rooted musical heritage, will be the focal point for this vision.
