Masculine, Feminine, Human:
The Dialogue of Complements

DAY 1 – SUNDAY, 18TH OCTOBER, 2026

Opening Ceremony & Festival Village Launch (From 4:00 PM)

• Official Opening & Tour of the Festival Village: Guests arrive and tour the living world of Umuofia.
• Welcoming of Guests: MC opens proceedings while the Adanta Cultural Troupe enlivens the atmosphere with welcoming dancers.
• Breaking of Kolanut (Igo Oji na Iwa Oji): Traditional blessing performed by an authentic Igbo cultural ambassador / titled elder.
• Official Addresses: Opening remarks and speeches by the Festival Director, Commissioner/Minister, Board Chair, and Centre Director.
• Theatrical Opening: Pentagram–Adanta Theatrical Presentation: “Mother of The Spirits”.
• Opening Keynote Address: “The Weight of a Name: Power, Memory and the Architecture of Identity.” A framing address on naming as an instrument of power across Igbo and African history, from precolonial cosmology to colonial renaming to present-day self-definition.
• Procession to Exhibition Arena: Ogene music ushers guests into the arena.
• Exhibition Opening Remarks: Stand-up moderated conversation with the 2026 TFAF Exhibition Curator, Prof. Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi.
• Wonder Masquerade Display: Majestic masquerade performance closing the evening.

DAY 2 – MONDAY, 19TH OCTOBER, 2026

Morning Workshops (9:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

• Theatre For Therapy: Facilitated by Prof. Andrew Kahn (Buffalo State University) — adult/tertiary audience.
• Egwuregwu: An Igbo Folk Music Workshop: Ichoku Academy & BLECCA Foundation (Day 1 of 5).
• Children's Literature Workshop & Book Conversation: Anyikwa Books (ages 8–15).

Afternoon Sessions (2:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• Book Conversation: In Conversation: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe — with Umuofia Book Club, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Enugu Chapter, and Enugu Literary Society. Exploring the novel’s resonance 68 years on.
• Panel Dialogue: Achebe’s Shadow: Naming, Language and the African Novel — examining how Things Fall Apart became an act of naming for African literature.

Evening Sessions (5:00 PM – 7:30 PM)

• Film Screening: No Let Dem Die (Documentary) — on cultural preservation and safeguarding memory and identity.
• Memoir & Life-Writing Fireside: Writing one's own name and history into personal narrative.
• Evening Music Performance: Highlife performance by the Therapeutic Band.

DAY 3 – TUESDAY, 20TH OCTOBER, 2026

Morning Workshops (9:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

• Egwuregwu Folk Music Workshop: Ichoku Academy & BLECCA Foundation (Day 2 of 5).
• Emerging Writers Literature Workshop: Facilitated by Michael Chukwudera (Day 1 of 2).
• Poetry of Writing Masterclass: Facilitated by James Eze (Day 1 of 2).

Afternoon Sessions (2:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• Book Conversation: In Conversation: A Rising Voice — Michael Chiedoziem Chukwudera on Woman At a Crossroads.
• Panel Dialogue: Digital Identity: Usernames, Algorithms and the New Naming — how the diaspora and digital natives are renaming themselves online.

Evening Sessions (5:00 PM – 7:30 PM)

• Film Screening: Ashawo... Or an Ode to Nigerian “Religious” Men — A meditation on gender, stigma, and the politics of naming.
• Evening Conversation: Special session with Chizoba Nwokoye, Nollywood Filmmaker and Influencer.
• Evening Music Performance: DJ and Karaoke (Highlife).

DAY 4 – WEDNESDAY, 21ST OCTOBER, 2026

Morning Workshops (9:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

• Egwuregwu Folk Music Workshop: Ichoku Academy & BLECCA Foundation (Day 3 of 5).
• Emerging Writers Literature Workshop: Michael Chukwudera (Day 2 of 2, closing).
• Poetry of Writing Masterclass: James Eze (Day 2 of 2, closing).

Afternoon Sessions (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM)

• Book Conversation: In Conversation with Pages and Lounge Book Club, Aba Book Club, and Dainz Books on Memoir, Exile and Naming the Self — reflecting on Okey Ndibe's Never Look an American in the Eye and wider body of work.
• Indigenous Performance: Ikorodo — Traditional indigenous musical performance.
• Public Discourse: Indigenous Folk Music Workshop Presentation with Gerald Eze, Okechukwu Nwatu, and legendary Mike Ejeagha.

Evening Sessions (5:00 PM – 7:30 PM)

• Film Screening & Dialogue: A Nation of Brutality (Documentary) — an experimental reflection on violence, nationhood, and power to define identity, followed by Dialogue on Storytelling.
• Evening Music Performance: Ichoku Academy live folk music performance.

DAY 5 – THURSDAY, 22ND OCTOBER, 2026

Morning Workshops (9:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

• Egwuregwu Folk Music Workshop: Ichoku Academy & BLECCA Foundation (Day 5 of 5 Finale).

Afternoon Sessions (2:00 PM – 5:15 PM)

• Community Conversation: Afa Onye Na-Edu Ya: What’s in an Igbo Name? — Elders, linguists, and parents on the meaning, selection, and preservation of traditional Igbo names.
• Panel Dialogue: Reclaiming Uli and Nsibidi: Visual Languages of Self — Uli design and Nsibidi symbols as precolonial systems of naming, identity, and contemporary revival.
• Theatre Presentation: Live dramatic stage production inspired by Things Fall Apart.
• Message from Partners: Goodwill message from event partners WB Yeats–TFAF Essay Awards supported by the Embassy of Ireland in Nigeria & Reading of The Second Coming by W.B. Yeats.

Evening Extended Fireside & Music (5:00 PM – 7:30 PM)

• Film Screening: Black Sands (Short film) — exploring memory, communal survival, and dignity of lives history leaves unnamed.
• Extended Fireside with Mr. Nkem Owoh (Osuofia): Actor, Thespian, Musician. An unhurried, personal fireside on identity, naming, and living unapologetically as oneself.
• Evening Performance: Live energetic Ogene Performance.

DAY 6 – FRIDAY, 23RD OCTOBER, 2026

Morning Workshops (9:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

• Oral History & Community Archiving Workshop: Centre for Memories — A practical workshop on recording, preserving, and archiving family and community oral histories.
• Indigenous Folk Music Workshop Fireside Day: Gerald Eze, Okechukwu Nwatu, and Mike Ejeagha.
• Egwuregwu Folk Music Workshop: Ichoku Academy & BLECCA Foundation (Day 4 of 5).

Afternoon Sessions (12:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• Academic Symposium: Special session with Prof. Charles.
• Book Conversation: In Conversation with Tinydot Bookstore and Crater Publishers on Fiction Across Continents — celebrating Chika Unigwe’s body of work on Igbo womanhood and migration (On Black Sisters Street).
• Panel Dialogue: Colonial Cartography: How Places Were Renamed — how colonial administration renamed rivers, towns, and regions across Igboland, and what has been reclaimed since.

Evening Screening, Fireside & Music (5:00 PM – 7:30 PM)

• Film Screening: Never Say Die: The Story and History of Rangers International Football Club — a Centre for Memories production written and produced by Nze Ed Keazor.
• Filmmakers Fireside: Telling Igbo Stories on Screen.
• Evening Music Performance: Open Mic Night.

DAY 7 – SATURDAY, 24TH OCTOBER, 2026

Grand Finale & Closing Ceremony (10:00 AM – 3:00 PM)

• Opening Artistic Performances: Live painting exhibition showcase, violin, saxophone, and spoken word poetry.
• Special Recognitions & Award Presentations: Honoring cultural and literary contributors.
• Festival Theme Panel Dialogue: Deep interrogation of “Named, Unnamed, Renamed: Power, Identity and the Right to Self-Definition”.
• Musical Performances: Live performances by Rabbai and Oluoma.
• Closing Keynote Address: “Renaming Ourselves: The Work Ahead for Igbo and African Self-Definition.” A forward-looking address on what it means for a people to actively author their own name, story, and future.
• Award Presentation to Essayists: Formal recognition and awarding of 2026 Essay Competition winners by the 2026 Essay Jury.
• Grand Festival Closure: The revered Ajofia masquerade display formally closes the 2026 Things Fall Apart Festival (2:00 PM – 3:00 PM).