The African International Documentary Festival Foundation (AFIDFF) has participated in the 3rd edition of the Festival des Masques, held in Porto-Novo, Benin, from 25–26 July 2026, as part of its expanding continental heritage documentation mandate under the Lens-On Africa programme. The mission marks AFIDFF’s first formal heritage documentation engagement in Benin and an important step in the Foundation’s commitment to documenting Africa’s living heritage, festivals, traditions, and cultural expressions from African perspectives.
Represented by Wilfried Boko, AFIDFF Media Representative, the Foundation documented the two-day celebration in Porto-Novo through photography, video, written accounts, and direct field engagement with festival participants, heritage professionals, cultural actors, media practitioners, and youth volunteers. The mission generated more than six hours of video footage and over 30 photographs, producing a substantive archival record of Benin’s living mask heritage for preservation and future documentary use.
The Festival des Masques is organised annually by Bénin Tourisme in partnership with the City of Porto-Novo, celebrating both the sacred and secular mask traditions that are central to Benin’s cultural identity. The 2026 edition, the festival’s third, featured a diverse and compelling range of mask traditions and cultural expressions, drawing participants from across Benin and the wider region.
The 3rd Festival des Masques featured some of Benin’s most significant sacred and secular mask traditions, each representing distinct cultural and spiritual lineages. Masks documented by AFIDFF over the two-day programme included:
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Egungun — ancestral masquerades representing the spirits of the departed
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Zangbéto — the traditional night guard masquerade of the Fon people
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Guèlèdé — a UNESCO-recognised intangible heritage masquerade tradition
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Gounouko — a masquerade tradition from the Benin-Nigeria border zone
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Vodun Hounvè — sacred Vodun ceremonial masquerades
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Kaléta — popular folkloric masquerade and entertainment tradition
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Adé-Oba and Python — royal and sacred masquerade traditions
The festival programme also encompassed an International Scientific Symposium held at the École du Patrimoine Africain (EPA) under the theme “Masks, Vodun: Heritage and Modernity,” a Festival Village hosting traditional folkloric groups and visual artists, live drawing, painting and sculpture workshops, cultural concerts, and the Grand Mask Procession — the festival’s culminating event.
AFIDFF documented mask animations across five of Porto-Novo’s city squares: Lokossa, Migan, Abessan, Dangbé Klunon Honto, and Houngbo: capturing the performances, performers, and community audiences that gave each tradition its living quality. Simultaneously, AFIDFF documented activities at the Festival Village: where traditional folkloric groups and visual artists engaged audiences through performances and live creative workshops: and sessions of the International Scientific Symposium at the École du Patrimoine Africain (EPA), where scholars and heritage professionals explored the intersection of masks, Vodun, and contemporary relevance.
Cultural activities continued across Porto-Novo on the second day, culminating in the Grand Mask Procession, the festival’s defining event. Masks from each of the city’s five squares converged at the Festival Village before proceeding in a grand procession through the streets of Porto-Novo, bringing together festivalgoers, community members, visitors, and international participants in a vibrant celebration of shared living heritage.
Throughout the mission, AFIDFF engaged directly with more than 20 individuals, including festivalgoers from within Benin and across the region, heritage professionals and researchers, cultural actors and performers, media practitioners, and the young volunteers whose logistical and guiding contributions are often overlooked in large-scale cultural events. AFIDFF gave deliberate and particular attention to documenting the role of these volunteers, reflecting the Foundation’s commitment to making visible the full ecosystem of people and communities that sustain living heritage traditions.
The documentation mission produced a substantive archive: more than six hours of video footage and over 30 photographs capturing mask performances, community gatherings, academic symposium sessions, workshop activities, and the Grand Mask Procession. This material forms part of AFIDFF’s growing continental heritage archive, a living repository of African cultural expressions documented by Africans, preserved for future generations.
AFIDFF expresses sincere appreciation to Bénin Tourisme and the City of Porto-Novo for their hospitality, openness, and support throughout the documentation mission, and to the AFIDFF team led by Wilfried Boko, for the quality and commitment of the field documentation carried out under the Foundation’s banner in Benin.
The Foundation will explore opportunities for a more sustained and structured partnership with the Festival des Masques as part of its expanding African heritage documentation programme.
