Documentation of Eyo Festival Architecture and Ephemeral Spatial Practices in Lagos Island

Festival architecture and ephemeral spatial practices are increasingly recognised as significant dimensions of intangible cultural heritage, yet their documentation in the context of Lagos Island's Eyo Masquerade Festival has received minimal scholarly attention. This study documents the architectural and spatial dimensions of the Eyo Festival as practised on Lagos Island, examining the temporary structures, processional routes, ceremonial spatial arrangements, and environmental transformations that collectively constitute the festival's built experience. Documentation was conducted during the 2023 Eyo Festival, combining field observation and video recording, spatial mapping of processional routes and assembly points against the underlying urban fabric, structured interviews with twenty Adimu Orisha Society officials and fifteen community elders, and photographic documentation of temporary shelters and viewing structures. Analysis examines how the festival temporarily redefines public space, transforming ordinary streets and open areas into sacred processional corridors and viewing galleries through minimal physical interventions. The study reveals a sophisticated system of spatial negotiation between permanent urban structures and temporary festival infrastructure, reflecting centuries of accumulated knowledge about crowd management, ceremonial movement, and environmental response. Temporary bamboo viewing platforms, canvas awning structures, and white-draped processional barriers are identified as the primary architectural elements. The documentation reveals that festival spatial practices have adapted over generations to accommodate urban changes, and that this adaptive capacity constitutes an important form of intangible architectural knowledge. Recommendations address digitised documentation and inclusion of festival spatial practices in the Lagos State Heritage Register. Keywords: festival architecture, ephemeral space, Eyo Festival, Lagos, intangible heritage.