The International Festival of Porto-Novo is the capital’s annual celebration of Benin’s cultural diversity. The theme of this year’s festival is Ogoun, one of the spiritual entities of the voodoo religion

One of the costumes at the festival, which lures visitors to the capital and underscores voodoo’s comeback

An intricate costume in the tradition of voodoo – in west Africa more often called ‘vodun’

Devotees dressed as Zangbeto, guardians of the night

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A participant dressed as an Egoun
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Practitioners of voodoo account for 11% of Benin’s population, according to figures from 2013
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Another Egoun parades along the road
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The feet of parade participants. Voodoo was demonised by Catholic missionaries when Benin was under French colonisation