The Best Festivals In Ghana
The Best Festivals In Ghana
All year long in Ghana, there are interesting events that you should attend at least once. Traditional celebrations often bring up interesting cultural and historical stories. Festivals of art, food, and music bring creative energy, great street tastes, and interesting, unique beats!
Traditional Celebrations
Ghana has more than 70 important traditional holidays every year. Most of these are held to celebrate farming seasons (usually after the rainy season), migration or territory growth history, cleaning stools, and other events. Such meetings improve family and community ties, celebrate different cultures, and make people feel more spiritual.
Homowo – May
Homowo is one of Ghana’s biggest celebrations. It occurs every year in May in Accra, the country’s capital. Its history is about a sad time when people were hungry, followed by a big harvest of plants and fish.
This is why it is called homework, which means to hoot at hunger. Chiefs in the Ga Traditional space sprinkle kpokpoi, an amazing street food created from cornmeal and palm oil. During the celebrations, people sing folk songs, pour drinks, and pray to the gods for another good season.
Aboakyir – May
The Effutu-Winneba people have a festival called Aboakyir, which means game collecting, on the first Saturday of May. The Tuafo and Denkyefo Asafo communities led a procession into a forest for a competitive deer hunt, which used to be a leopard hunt. After the hunt, rituals are held to please the gods. After this, a big durbar is held with the chiefs, queen moms, and leaders to make the ceremony and cultural event more exciting.
Bakatue – July
It is a festival that the people of Elmina enjoy. It shows the “process of discharge” when the Benya Lagoon flows into the sea to start the fishing season. Many crucial things must be done to show respect for the gods who help the fishing community.
One example is the casting of the net tradition, in which the catch is given to the gods. Every year on the first Tuesday of July, Elmina has a party for it. During the holidays, there is a colorful durbar with leaders and people, music and dancing, and a colorful show of boats on the lake.
Asafotufiam – August
The inhabitants of Ada in the eastern areas of Greater Accra reflect on previous victories and losses over Asafotufiam. Rites and ceremonies also mark the harvest season. As part of the celebrations, people dress up in elaborate outfits and put on a show that looks like a war. There are also stooge cleaning rituals and drinking, durbars with leaders in palanquins, music, and dance, and men and women wearing beads of different colors.
Oguaa Fetu Afahye – September
Visit Cape Coast’s Fetu Afahye at the beginning of September to see the unique durbar and warrior group processions. Rituals like libations and animal sacrifices are done to show thanks to the 77 gods who live in the area. Before the event, drums, singing, and other loud sounds are not allowed, just like in the Ga Traditional area.
The Fosu pond has also stopped being used for fishing. On special days, women, men, and children dressed in kente and gold ornaments dance and drum, and chiefs and leaders carry huge umbrellas and scepters while riding in palanquins. There are also parties for Amuntumadeze (the day of health) and Adamma (the day of traditions).
Hogbetsotso – September
The Anlo Ewes got away from Agorkoli’s reign of fear and made it to Notsie by returning to get away from those who were after them. It is held every September to remember this move. Aside from cleaning the surroundings and making the stools clean, it is a chance to find peace.
Akwasidae – Every Six Weeks
Everyone is welcome at Akwasidae, a special cultural event every Sunday at Manhyia Palace. The Ashanti kingdom is known for its complex practices that help queen moms, chiefs, sub-chiefs, leaders, and people get along better. A horn sounds, and fantom from thumps accompany the palanquin lift. The kete or adowa dance adds to the bright gold items on the kente.
Art, Food, And Music Festivals
Chale Wote Festival
The bright CHALE WOTE Street Art Festival, which drew more than 30,000 people last year, shows how Ghanaian artists, teachers, and foreign partners work together in the streets of Accra. The community-based, diverse event occurs in Jamestown, one of Accra’s oldest and largest neighborhoods.
It was used as a port for movement, trade, and imprisonment when colonialism exploited and organized people. It is a lively, creative place for connecting with natural ideas and expressing them freely through performances, talks, and cultural extensions.
Sabolai Festival
Every December in Accra, Ghana, Sabolai is a must-see event for fans of African independent music. The best creative music is from popular and alternative scenes, from the modern escape to traditional tableaus, fusions, and unusual streams. Its ninth year is coming, and we can’t wait to play music with you at the center of the Earth.
Nkabom Literary Festival
The goal of the Nkabom Literary Festival is to bring together writers, authors, spoken word artists, photographers, DJs, painters, illustrators, theater artists, singers, and others. By bringing together different kinds of material, the festival hopes to push the limits of what writing can do. This year’s theme is Unlocking Africa, from August 23rd to Aug 26th in Accra.
Accra Food Festival
People from Accra and worldwide come together to try delicious food from various tents at prices that aren’t too high. Traditional and non-traditional dishes offer the best Ghanaian and foreign food in a relaxed setting. The kid-friendly event in Accra is now in its fourth year. On September 23rd and 24th, 2022, from 11 am to 7 pm, it will be a paradise for food lovers.
Panafest
At the Pan-African Festival of Art and Culture, historical and cultural gifts and traditions are shown off. In the mid-1980s, the late Efua Sutherland started PANAFEST to help Africans worldwide feel like they were going home.
Roy ‘Gramps’ Morgan, a major member of the Morgan Heritage family reggae group from the United States, was designated an Ambassador of the 2017 Pan-African Historical Theatre Festival on May 23rd. The 30th-anniversary version of the game will start on July 25, 2022.
Afrochella
Let Away to Africa show you the hidden beauty of Ghana on this musically and culturally diverse trip with Afrochella. Your cultural trip with Away to Africa will start in Accra and take you to Cape Coast, the Volta Region, Hohoe, Aburi Mountain, and numerous other beautiful places in Ghana.
Afrochella occurs just before the New Year and promotes Africa’s varied culture through fashion, art displays, and music. Relax and dance the night out on Accra’s beautiful beaches while making memories with new friends that will last a lifetime.
