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BIA SO MENGONG: A Meaningful Return to Our Roots (Part 3)

At the final whistle, the delegation sets off among the cocoa plants, heading toward the cultural village and then the festival village. A giant billboard at the end of the track welcomes festival-goers and outlines the main highlights of the program. The first stop: the cultural village,

9/28/20262 min read

“A tree can only conquer the world if its roots are firmly anchored in the soil.”

At the final whistle, the delegation sets off among the cocoa plants, heading toward the cultural village and then the festival village. A giant billboard at the end of the track welcomes festival-goers and outlines the main highlights of the program. The first stop: the cultural village, designed by Jacques Kisito Ndongo Bitye. The MINAC team and distinguished guests linger there, visibly impressed by the wealth of details gathered to revive the roots of a people of warriors and unifiers. “A tree can only conquer the world if its roots are firmly anchored in the soil,” Professor Belinga would later remark when speaking of this place.

The Katé Minkolo opens the show: a giant cassava stick, a ball of peanut paste whose cooking required many hands for hours. The women presenting it sing the Yekombo hymn as they hand it to Madame the Minister, in an atmosphere blending ritual and celebration. A little further on, the Aba Mi Nkukuma, the initiation hut where values were once passed down between generations, welcomes visitors. Dances, percussion, and costumes made of banana leaves complete the scene.

The festival village takes over. Madame Nkoum signed off on the decoration, faithful to the edition’s theme: local products, calabashes from the Far North, raffia, woven palm leaves, maize stalks, and at the entrance, a luminous sign announcing “Bia So Mengong.” In front of this décor, phones are busy capturing the moment.

The evening ends with music. Cysoul opens the stage and captivates his audience, though some regret a playback performance where his live voice could have resonated more powerfully. K‑Tino closes the night in communion with the crowd of Mengong, not without a word of thanks to Professor Steve‑Félix Belinga, who has carried this project for years.

It is around 3 a.m. on opening day when the festival village slowly empties, each person leaving with the promise of a continuation just as vibrant.

Interviewed on the sidelines of the festivities, Professor Belinga summed up the expectations of this edition: “We want more participation from our youth, much more involvement from our elites and authorities, and we thank Madame the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications for setting the pace so that others may follow. We want the Bia So Mengong International Festival to keep growing, to become one of the largest in the South Region and, why not, one of the finest in the Republic of Cameroon. We expect support from all living forces as well as from the authorities. This year, we want to showcase the strength of the forest peoples, the strength of the Ekang peoples, in grandeur as well as in miniature, through everything we know how to do.”

— Preston KAMBOU

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