The 2025 edition of the annual Udiroko Festival kicked-off in a grand style on Friday in Ado-Ekiti with one of the pre-festival events – Keep To Fit.
The exercise was well-attended by young and adults from different parts of Ado-Ekiti and outside, including Eyesorun Bosede Adejugbe, wife of the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Ewi-in-Council, market women, political office holders, among others.
The procession, led by Eyesorun Adejugbe took off at the Ewi’s palace, through Oja Oba, Okeyinmi, Okesa, Oke Ori-Omi, and finally berthed at the Ewi’s palace, where residents that participated in the fitness walk were welcomed and addressed by the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe.
Oba Adejugbe thanked the Ewi-in-Council and residents for turning out for the walk noting that the exercise is aimed at engaging them in physical fitness, while announcing the commencement of the 2025 Udiroko Festival themed: “Celebrating the Solid Reverence of Our Cultural Heritage with Love and Pride.”
On her part, Eyesorun Adejugbe explained that the exercise also afforded the Ewi-in-Council the opportunity to showcase their physical strength to the people in delivering on the responsibilities given to them.
She noted that the exercise, which is one of the activities that usually herald the week-long celebration, is designed to sensitize residents on the importance of fitness and create awareness for the celebration.
Her words: “We are doing it with Ewi-in-Council and for every Ado sons and daughters that are around. We are doing it to keep them fit. When a new chief is installed in Ado-Ekiti, people will like to know his strength whether he is a weak person. As soon as they installed the chief, he will walk round Ado-Ekiti and the walk is a test case. Fortunately for us, everyone of them performed the act and they did well.
“It’s an annual ritual for us to mark the beginning of the Udiroko festival. We should first of all keep fit and when we are able to walk round, it means we will be fit to celebrate the festival. Everybody should start walking everyday.”
Some of the residents commended the Oba and Ewi-in-Council for sustaining the Udiroko festival tradition describing the exercise as a good way to start the festival.
