Hi, it’s festival season. You will hear on the radio, TV channels talking about music festivals, tomatoes and more. In the south of Cameroon, the unshakable riches of a commune are valued: the festival is called Bia So Mengong: “We are coming out of Mengong”. I had the honor of covering the kick off of this festival last Saturday at the request of the Association of Bloggers of Cameroon, with my blogger cap. I tell you about my trajectory in this summer post.
Bia So Mengong Festival Opening Parade ©GOVstudio
They have been waiting for this festival all year. This morning of July 15, 2023, the road section between the cocam stadium, a local playground and the Mengong festival square is very lively. Locals walk up and down waiting for the authorities to arrive to open their festival. Since thehe first edition of the Bia So Mengong festival which was held from July 12 to 30, 2023, the inhabitants of this municipality, which has 49 villages, were seduced. I would even say that they were charmed, charmed by their own wealth which a son of the village and his wife redesigned and presented in a basket open to everyone. The Municipality of MENGONG is located in the southern plateau of Cameroon. It is located 30 km from EBOLOWA, 20 km from NGOULEMAKONG on National Road N°2; 90 km from SANGMELIMA on the departmental road; 60 km from BIWONG-ULOU on the Communal road.
It’s 10:30 a.m. I get off the bus in the middle of town. There are a lot of people. I realize right away that I’m late for my cover. Fast ! A motorcycle ! In two minutes, the biker drops me off at the Place des Fêtes. Excuse me, I’m a little shy. So I send a small smile to whoever gives me an insistent look. The festival isn’t ready to start now, but there are posters everywhere. They almost all carry the same message: “A ne ajô d’anane”, which means “It’s your business” in the Bulù language. Some highlight several national artists such as Sanzy Viany, John Duchant, Koppo, Kristel Electra and Lucky +2. The city is ready to welcome its “sacred fire”, as it is called. That’s wonderful ! I take advantage of the landscape of this magnificent city with its savannah climate and its dry winter. But I have a problem. I’m hungry ! This place smells so good!
National artists have confirmed their presence in mengong ©leventsoufle
What are you serving?
Just opposite the grandstand of the Place des Fêtes, there is a large relaxation area. You have to go down a few stairs before you get there. Here, we drink, we eat, we discuss, we get to know each other. When I get there, a long line of exhibition stands fills the place. Exhibitors present local products: sugar cane, the Bobolo, which are cassava sticks measuring almost 2 meters. I am 1m57 tall. Just so that you understand the difference between my size and that of this stick and thereby understand the creative genius of the women who do this artisanal work. There is also cola, loincloth fabrics, medicinal plants, and so on. So, in this local bar that I carefully selected, attracted by the smell of the young lady’s dishes, I sit down for lunch. I wave to the lady from my table, alas she hardly sees me. There are too many people in front of her.
I wait a few more minutes, but she doesn’t come to take my order. So, I do like the others.
It is in front of his pots that I will find something to eat. I laugh and say hello to him.
“People like to come to my counter to order. They open the pot for the most impatient,” she explains. In her menu of the day, she offers rice with fish tomato sauce, couscous ndole, sautéed potatoes, beef broth and porcupine. The South is a region of Cameroon where people consume a lot of bushmeat. A meat that my mouth had not yet tasted. After a few seconds of reflection, I resolve to take a dish of porcupine and steamed cassava. His meal was delicious. The flesh was very similar to pork I don’t eat, but tasted slightly bitter. A blogger friend and member of the Cameroon bloggers association told me that it had not been cleaned very well.
©leventsoufle
Now that my stomach is full, let’s discover the festival-goers. The road leading to the stadium is paved. Three minute walk. In the program, the opening ceremony should start at 1 p.m. But you know the organization in Cameroon, it must be said that the Cameroonian is not very square with punctuality. But OK ! People I meet on the driveway tell me about the pride that animates them at the start of this party. From a distance, I see a tailor’s shop, just to my right as I leave the Place des Fêtes. He’s the one waving at me. So I’m going to see him. His name is Martin, he is 44 years old, and comes from the union of an intercultural couple: dad bulu from Mengong and mom Eton, from Elig-Mfomo, a town in the center of the country. He is a tailor and has a stand on the Place des Fêtes where he exhibits the outfits he makes. Born in Mengong, he was raised in several cities of the country such as the Southwest and the Littoral. He learned sewing in the Southwest, from his father who also made it his job. But it was after the death of his father that he decided to settle permanently in this locality. He is very eager to relive the Bia So Mengong festival experience. Last year he couldn’t have a stand, but this year he is super happy to have a corner where he can present his works. Sewing is her whole life. Passionate about his needle, his scraps of fabric and his pair of scissors, he does not want to envy anything to his little brother who is in the United States. As he called me “new face” on my arrival, he welcomes all the festival-goers on whom he counts to carry very high the sacred values of the city of mengong: Its peace, its living together and its atmosphere always good kid. With Martin, we chatted for almost 30 minutes when suddenly I see two young people crossing the street all covered in white. From the face to the feet. It is difficult for me to determine whether they are girls or boys. So I decide to talk to them. These young people seem to be in a great hurry. I just ask them for a photo. The oldest is called Lucrèce and she is 12 years old, just like her friend Maël. They tell me that they are dressed all in white because they are going to dance the bobokon during a big parade planned in festival opening.
Lucrèce on the right and Maël on the left ©leventsoufle
I arrive at the stadium. It’s getting late and I don’t see any authorities around. Other than that, the stadium is packed with people. I see, at the other end, a large group of young people. The boys are shirtless and the girls wear black bras.
Behind the scenes of the parade!
some of the parade’s protagonists©leventsoufle
The theme of the second edition of the bia so mengong festival is “unity is strength”. It is Lord Rodriguez, a 34-year-old Cameroonian artist-researcher, specializing in theatrical staging and creation choreographic, which organizes the parade with a collaborator. They worked for a week with young volunteers from the town. This is an unprecedented opening parade for the festival. Rodriguez chose to tell a story based on a legend that plagues a region in the center of the southeast. It is the legend of Akumuba, a village chief who terrorized the populations with his warriors. And one day, the villagers understood the need to unite to fight the tyrant, while showing the tyrannical leader why it was important for everyone to be united. The play is made up of 120 protagonists representing the four martyred villages. There are dancers, cheerleaders, acrobats, hunters, fire eaters and of course the chief and his warriors. All the actors are young people from the village. It is Jacques Albert Oyono, the collaborator of Rodriguez, who coordinates the make-up of the actors under a straw tent. He explains to me that his make-up technique aims to camouflage the characters. On stage, it will be very difficult to recognize the dancers.
Let’s go, Mengong lights his sacred fire!
It is finally very late in the evening that the festival has finally started with the arrival of the authorities, from the representative of the governor to the traditional chiefs, who will actively participate in the creation of programs such as the tales around the fire. “Bia so mengong” in the Bulu language means “we come from Mengong”. So, you can be born there or just passing through, a bit like me. The promoters of the festival, Stève Felix Belinga and his wife Mireille Gracia, through their foundation, the Belinga Foundation, call for the union of everyone’s strengths for the development of the small crossroads town. To make you live the experience of this first day of the festival, next Saturday I will offer you a podcast that I made on site. The festival that started is held until July 29, 2023. Don’t miss my podcast. You are going to listen to my interview with Steve Felix Belinga, the gentleman behind the festival
©leventsoufle