Oyarore is the salt festival of Keana, Nasarawa State: a thanksgiving for the year's salt, presided over by the Osana of Keana and now held as a national festival.
- Type
- Festival
- Nature of the record
- Contemporary practice
- Local name
- Oyarore (Alago)
- Category
- Festivals & ceremonies
- When observed
- Annually; usually November, on a date set by the Osana (Newswatch 2002); the 2025 edition opened on 10 December
- Season
- After the salt harvest
- Usual months
- November–December
- Current status
- Active
- Scope
- Community
Oyarore (also written Onyarore) is the salt festival of Keana, in Nasarawa State, held by the Alago people of the town to give thanks for the year's salt.
In 2002, Newswatch quoted the state commissioner for tourism and culture, a native of Keana, as describing Onyarore as a seven-day festival of thanksgiving to the gods for the previous year's salt harvest, which also opens a new harvest year. It was then usually held in November, on a date set by the Osana of Keana, the traditional ruler and "chief custodian of the salt mine", who presides over its sacrifices, incantations and feasting. On the last day, the report said, the Osana threw a spear over a woven fence to the young men of the town, and the one who caught it was given a wife. Newswatch added that, under the influence of Christianity, the festival was "no longer very popular" at that time.
The festival has since been revived on a larger scale. The News Agency of Nigeria, reported by Vanguard, describes the 2025 National Oyarore Salt Festival, which opened on 10 December 2025 with cultural displays, wrestling, traditional performances and exhibitions, attended by representatives of the federal Minister of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy and of the state governor. The Osana, Dr Abdullahi Agbo III, said the festival was more than 250 years old, and the organising committee presented the 2025 edition as the 250th anniversary of a festival begun in 1775. The organisers also said the Federal Government had designated the festival a national event and the salt site a national monument; the NCMM, however, still lists Keana Salt Village as a proposed monument.
- National Oyarore Salt Festival
- Onyarore
- Salt Women of Keana — Betty Onuh, Newswatch (Lagos), via allAfrica, 2002-11-17 · link
- Oyarore salt festival showcases Nasarawa's rich heritage, boosts creative economy – Minister — Vanguard (News Agency of Nigeria report), 2025-12-21 · link
How evidence is graded
- Verified: Supported by an official source, or by two or more independent sources that agree.
- Well documented: Supported by credible sources, but not yet independently confirmed.
- Reported: Found in a credible source; further corroboration is welcome.
- Needs corroboration: The evidence is thin or incomplete; more sources are being sought.
- Disputed: Credible sources or community accounts disagree; the differing accounts are noted.
- Uncertain: There is not yet enough information to classify this responsibly.
Sources are marked official, academic, reference, community or general web. Sources that copy each other count as one. Oral traditions are recorded as traditions, not as proven fact.
Archive ID: CULT-OYARORE-SALT-FESTIVAL · Last updated 26 September 2026.
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