Akụkọ Ifo: Moonlight and Snowfalls - The Stories We Carry
Akụkọ Ifo: Moonlight and Snowfalls - The Stories We Carry
A new Igbo storytelling theatre series from the Ndi Igbo Cultural Association of Nova Scotia
Where Igbo moonlight folktale tradition meets Nova Scotia snowfalls, and where memory, migration, and family become a celebration of who we are and who we are becoming together. Come witness a story that belongs to all of us.
ABOUT THE EVENING
Akụkọ Ifo (pronounced ah-KOO-koh EE-foh) is the Igbo phrase for the moonlight folktale tradition: the stories told under lantern light in the evenings, the way an entire people passed down what mattered.
Moonlight and Snowfalls moves between southeastern Nigeria and Nova Scotia. The Stories We Carry names what every immigrant knows: our stories travel with us, and they find new homes when they meet new audiences.
The inaugural production is Mama's Halloween: An Igbo Grandmother Discovers Nova Scotia.
Mama Adaeze has crossed an ocean to visit her grandchildren in Halifax. It is late October. Costumed children are knocking on doors, jack-o-lanterns are glowing, and her granddaughter is dressed as a butterfly. Mama has never seen anything like this, or has she?
As the evening unfolds, Mama begins to recognize something familiar in the masks, the lantern light, the gathering of neighbours, the welcoming of strangers at the door. It is Mmanwu under a snow-grey sky. It is the same human heart.
By the end of the night, two worlds have found each other, and both are richer for it.
WHAT TO EXPECT
A warm welcome into a world where two cultures recognize each other.
An original theatre production running approximately 50 minutes, family-friendly and performed in English with selected Igbo phrases and songs.
A shared experience for Igbo Nova Scotians, newcomer families, settled Nova Scotian communities, and anyone who has ever carried a story across a distance.
An evening celebrating Igbo memory, migration, family, and storytelling in Nova Scotia.
YOUTH CULTURAL SHOWCASE & THE AMARA PROJECT
This evening also features the Youth Cultural Showcase, presented through The Amara Project — a celebration of Igbo youth voices, creativity, and cultural expression. The showcase is part of the community's broader preparations for the IRI-JI Festival, bringing together young artists and performers as they contribute to the living tradition of Igbo storytelling and heritage in Nova Scotia.
Find us as part of the Youth Cultural Showcase and The Amara Project — and join us in the spirit of our IRI-JI celebrations.
EVENT DETAILS
Date: Sunday, July 26, 2026
Time: 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM (Doors open at 5:00 PM, show begins at 6:00 PM)
Venue: Potter Family Auditorium, Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building, 6100 University Ave, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2
ABOUT THE SERIES
Akụkọ Ifo: Moonlight and Snowfalls is an inaugural NICANS theatre project celebrating Igbo memory, migration, family, and storytelling in Nova Scotia.
This is not a one-time event. We are building something that will outlast any single production: a reason for Igbo artists, elders, and youth in Nova Scotia to gather around a stage every season and make something true.
PRESENTED BY
The Ndi Igbo Cultural Association of Nova Scotia (NICANS) holds cultural meetings, organizes the IRI-JI Festival, mentors youth, and builds the small everyday infrastructure of an Igbo community in Nova Scotia.
Come ready to feel, remember, and connect. Leave with a phrase of Igbo on your tongue and a deeper sense of our shared story.