The Likumbi Lya Mize traditional ceremony of the Luvale speaking people of North western is one spectacular traditional event that draws tourists from within Zambia and Abroad.

Every year in the month of August, Zambezi District of Northwestern Province of Zambia becomes a hive of activities as Luvale speaking people from all corners of Zambia converge and celebrate the Likumbi Lya Mize traditional ceremony.

The main attraction of the Likumbi Lya Mize ceremony is the Makishi Masquerades.

The Makishi Masquerades are linked to the Mukanda, an initiation ceremony that recruits and trains boys for about six months to a year where they undergo several rites of passage into manhood.

This involves learning certain survival skills, hunting, learning about women, how to be a good husband and fatherhood.The Mukanda climaxes into the circumcision of initiates.This symbolize the passage into adulthood.

The Luvale speaking people consider uncircumcised men as dirty or unhygienic.

For its magnificent cultural presence and artistry, the Makishi masquerades and Mukanda were in 2005 conferred with a diploma by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)for being a master piece of world cultural heritage for posterity thus safeguarding the two practices.

The Likumbi Lya Mize Ceremony has been kept original for the proper transition of culture from one generation to the other for over 60 years now.

NO WONDER, THE LIKUMBI LYA MIZE TRADITIONAL CEREMONY IS THE WORD’S HERITAGE CEREMONY.