December in Lagos, Accra · January in Ouidah
The party of the return in Lagos and Accra in December. The meaning of the return in Ouidah, a week later, a few hours away by road.
Detty December
Lagos, Accra — December
The diaspora comes home for the holidays: concerts, weddings, reunions. It's the energy of return, the city filling back up, the music that doesn't stop, the joy of finding your people again.
Vodun Days
Ouidah, Benin — January 7 to 9
Three days of sacred ceremony in the town that saw millions of ancestors leave, and still receives them, every year, in January. It's the meaning of the return, not the party for its own sake, the memory that carries it.
Every December, part of the global African diaspora converges on Lagos and Accra for what has come to be called Detty December: concerts, weddings, family reunions, the city filling back up with those who had left. It is a moment of real, immense joy, and it doesn't need us to exist.
What we offer is different, and complementary: a few hours by road from Lagos, Ouidah celebrates the Vodun Days from January 7 to 9. Three days of sacred ceremony in the town that was one of the main ports of the transatlantic slave trade, and remains today a living centre of Vodun. For anyone already on the continent in December, extending the trip to Ouidah doesn't add one more stop. It adds the chapter Detty December doesn't tell: not just the party of the return, its memory.
What is Detty December?
A term coined in Nigeria for the festive end-of-year season in Lagos, when the diaspora and international visitors flock in for concerts, weddings, parties and Christmas markets. The word has spread to Accra, which has run a comparable season since Ghana's Year of Return. It has become West Africa's most followed annual homecoming for the diaspora.
Is Ouidah close to Lagos?
Yes. Ouidah sits a few hours by road from Lagos, via the Seme-Krake border and Cotonou. It's the shortest link between the two moments of this season: the December party in Lagos, the January memory in Ouidah.
What about from Accra?
The trip is longer, by road through Togo, or by a regional flight into Cotonou. Accra remains within reach for anyone wanting to string together both parts of the season, the Ghanaian December festivities and the January Vodun Days.
Can I combine a Detty December trip with the Vodun Days?
That is exactly the point of this bridge. Many in the diaspora are already on the continent in December for the celebrations in Lagos or Accra. Extending the trip by a few days to reach Ouidah for the Vodun Days, January 7 to 9, means living both: the joy of coming home, then the ceremony that carries its meaning.
What are the exact dates of the 2027 Vodun Days?
The official Vodun Days run from January 7 to 9, 2027 in Ouidah. After Vodundays offers an extended programme from January 6 to 10 for those who want time before and after the three days of ceremony.
The 2027 Vodun Days run January 7 to 9. Places with the guardian families are limited and book early.