Lanterns Festival
Lanterns Festival
As the years passed, the celebration—and the lanterns—grew larger. Heavy boots, originally worn as protection from the crowds, came to be used to produce drum-like rhythmical beats on the paved streets since some Muslims discourage using drums. Maggay's group was called bobo, the name for their distinctive beat. Neighborhood rivalries, based on competition in lantern building, often erupted in violence.
By the 1950s the Young Men's Muslim Association had taken over the festival in hopes of reducing the violence through better organization. The lanterns—which by that time were elaborate float-like structures illuminated from within and drawn by eight-man teams or motor vehicles—were divided into three categories for judging: Group A for ships; Group B for animals and people; and Group C for miscellaneous secular subjects. Prizes were awarded to the top three winners in each group, based on creativity and building technique.
Sierra Leone Embassy
1701 19th St. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009
202-939-9261; fax: 202-483-1793
www.embassyofsierraleone.org
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 676