The Oyo State Government has pledged its full support for the annual celebration of the Iyemoja Festival in Ibadan, promising it would ensure the festival attracts the attention of UNESCO.

The Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dr Wasiu Olatunbosun, gave the assurance during the celebration of this year’s Iyemoja Festival at the River Bank of Popoyemoja, in Ibadan.

In a statement signed by Dotun Oyelade, the Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Olatunbosun explained that the government threw its weight behind the festival in order to promote and preserve the cultural heritage, as well as remember the forebears in the state.

He promised that, to make the approval of UNESCO a reality, the next Yemoja Festival would be well packaged to attract a mammoth crowd to grace the occasion, asserting that the singular act would attract sponsorship to the festival from different brands.

Similarly, in their goodwill messages, the Chairperson, House Committee on Culture and Tourism, Mrs Michael Olubisi Margaret and Mrs Olajide Olufunke, eulogised the governor for fulfilling his promise to approve and support Isese Day which, they said, is a way to promote Oyo State’s rich cultural values, which in turn may be a money spinner for the state.

Earlier in her opening speech, the Yeyelorisa of the Festival, Omitonade Ifawemimo Egbelade, said the festival is an avenue for every son and daughter of Iyemoja, both at home and in the diaspora, to converge and celebrate their past heroes and also plan on ways to move the belief forward.

The highpoint of the festival was the appeasement to the Iyemoja deity by Baale Iyemoja Omikunmi Egbelade, who took the propitiation and dived into the river, a symbolic representation of the sacrificial rites.

Prayers were also offered for the government and the people of the state.

Other highlights were cultural displays by different masquerades such as Ayelabola, Danafojura, the Olorisa Yemoja, Gelede and a host of others.