Iria Festival Committee Announces Return of Traditional Wrestling Contest

The Iria Festival Committee has announced that the traditional wrestling contest, absent from the festival programme for six years, will return this season alongside the usual coming-of-age ceremonies.

The contest, once a central feature of the festival, was paused after funding difficulties. A renewed sponsorship arrangement with diaspora associations has made its return possible.

'Young people kept asking us why it stopped. Now we can tell them it never really left, it was just resting,' said committee spokesperson Barine Wonodi.