Modern trends in folkloristics seem to emphasize four major approaches to the analysis of folklore. Performance analysis, genre analysis, Structuralism and Reconstruction. Performance - oriented perspective tends to be very much favoured by many folklorists because of the current shift from literacy and philological study of text to the study of oral tradition as a means of expression and communication. owing to the Universality of folklore, cultural anthropologists and folklorist alike are convinced that the analysis of folklore should concentrate on teh meaning and purpose of folklore for its users rather than on the content. In this paper, an attempt will be made to use the performance approach in discussing the meaning and purpose of the Yoruba folktales to its users-the Yoruba. We shall draw a clear distinction between the meaning of "uses" and "functions", then we shall discuss the various contexts in which folktales can be performed in Yoruba community in relation to their cultural heritage.