The story
Adossa-Gadao in Sokode
Adossa, sometimes called Adossa-Mahouloudou or paired with the related Gadao festival, is the traditional knife festival of the Tem, or Kotokoli, people of Sokode, Togo. Held over four days and timed to the Islamic month of Gaani, it combines a syncretic blend of older Kotokoli ritual with Mawlid, the marking of the Prophet Muhammad's birth.
Sokode, Togo's second-largest city, sits at the heart of Tem, or Kotokoli, country, and each year its streets fill for a festival whose layered name, sometimes Adossa alone, sometimes paired as Adossa-Gadao, reflects a layered history.