The plural culture of the populations of the Fishing Road is strongly imbued with the vestiges of the past, of preserved traditions all along the long peregrination of these populations in their permanent quest for rich fishing waters.

Festivals are consequently deeply marked by the painful history of the slave trade experienced on the beaches of Oudiah, the primary human trade center in Africa south of the Sahara, the sacred and exalting rituals of the Vodoun religion with their ancestral traditional hordes, etc. This, January 10th, the national Vodoun festival, and year-round, cultural events celebrate the pantheon of divinities worshipped in this part of Benin.

The feast, par example, sakpata divinities of the erath, dan of the snake, hêviosso of the thunder and the rain, celebrated in October of every year, put into play local folklore and a wealth of music of rare beauty.

Other traditional festivals just as enthralling are celebrated. Among others, the festival of twins in Octobre brings together twins, their parents, and their families. Birth ceremonies, although specific in its celebration to every family, regroup the entire community in jubilation, bringing an end to the forced reclusion of the young mother who can then rejoin community life.

Numerous ritual ceremonies, songs, drum beats, dances, prayers, and offerings to the fetishes mark all of these festivals. The apparition of ghosts (Egoun) and/ or night watchers (Zangbeto and Oro) constitute the spectacular end of these festivals.

Finally, the more recent festival of repentance or remembrance, celebrates the memory of slaves, sold and deported to America. During one week, from January 18 to 21 each year, a memorial retraces the route followed by the slaves from the city of Ouidah to the slave ships in an atmosphere of contemplation and deep emotion.

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