# The Osun-Osogbo Festival

> The Osun-Osogbo Festival is an annual Yoruba religious festival held at the Osun Sacred Grove in Osogbo, Osun State, honouring the river goddess Ọ̀ṣun under a founding covenant dated to the late 16th century. The Grove was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, and the festival's central rite, the Arugbá procession, still draws thousands of worshippers, tourists, and diaspora Yoruba practitioners each August.

**Category:** Culture & Religion · **Updated:** 2026-07-26 19:36:35 · **Canonical:** https://nigeriastuff.org/a/osun-osogbo-festival

## Key facts
- **Location:** Osun Sacred Grove, Osogbo, Osun State
- **UNESCO status:** World Heritage Site, inscribed 2005
- **Grove size:** c. 75 hectares along the Osun River
- **Timing:** Annually in August, festival period lasting about one to two weeks
- **Central rite:** The Arugbá procession, led by a young royal virgin
- **Founding legend date:** Late 16th / early 17th century (Láròóyè and Tìmẹ́hìn)
- **Key restoration figure:** Susanne Wenger and the New Sacred Art movement, from the 1950s–1960s

## Sources
- Heritage Site: Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove — Federal Ministry of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy (Nigeria) (https://www.fmacce.gov.ng/heritage-site/osun-osogbo-sacred-grove)
- Nigeria's Ọ̀ṣun Òṣogbo festival celebrates the power of a Yoruba goddess — The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/nigerias-un-o-ogbo-festival-celebrates-the-power-of-a-yoruba-goddess-243163)
- Osun-Osogbo Festival: A sacred celebration of culture, spirit, and community — The Guardian Nigeria (https://guardian.ng/life/culture-lifestyle/osun-osogbo-festival-a-sacred-celebration-of-culture-spirit-and-community/)
- The Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove — Gods' Collections (https://www.godscollections.org/case-studies/osun-osogbo)

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