Honoring Tradition: The big festivals in Ghana.

Honoring Tradition: The big festivals in Ghana.

Travellers are very interested in the festivals in Ghana. And the massive number of regional festivals that take place all around Ghana each year should be at the top of your bucket list since they are a distinctive aspect of Ghanaian civilization.

Few visitors are likely to plan their trips so that they coincide with a specific festival, but it is still important to be aware of any festival that will be taking place while you are in Ghana and to make an effort to be there when they happen.

This is especially important to do during the most significant festivals because accommodations may be scarce in some areas. This article will highlight eight (8) of the big festivals in Ghana, and they are as follows:

Aboakyir

If you are travelling to Ghana in the first few days of the month of May, make an effort to be at Winneba on May's first weekend in time for the legendary Aboakyir hunting festival, which dates back 300 years.

The deer (or, more precisely, antelope) hunt, in which the town's two oldest asafo groups fight to track down and catch a bushbuck using only their bare hands.

Homowo

The majority of other celebrations in Ghana's coastal regions happen in the fall. Homowo, which literally translates to "hooting at hunger," is the most significant yearly event in the Greater Accra Region.

It is observed in the capital as well as in neighbouring Ga towns like Prampram. It occurs in August and September, when fish and grain are often harvested in their greatest quantities.

In the same months, the Northern Region, which is focused in Tamale, has a celebration similar to this one under the name Damba. They (Damba and Homowo) are two of the biggest harvest theme festivals in Ghana, within that period.

Oguaa Fetu Afahye

On the first Saturday in September, when local chiefs and asafo companies lead processions through the streets of Cape Coast, the vibrant Oguaa Fetu Afahye—the last word of which literally means "adorning of new clothes"—is the most significant festival in the Fante calendar and one of the best well celebrated festivals in Ghana.

Bontungu

The Bontungu festival, which lasts for five days in August and include a variety of drumming and dance rites, is the principal celebration of Anomabu. Its purpose is to invoke the blessing of God in the next year.

Bakatue

The Bakatue Festival is held in Elmina on the first Tuesday of July, which marks the start of a new fishing season, a little bit earlier in the year.

This celebration, which is one of the oldest in Ghana and is distinguished by a variety of processions and contests, is supposed to have existed 500 years before the Portuguese arrived in Elmina.

Hogbetsotso

Hogbetsotso, also known as the "Exodus" Festival, which is held in Anloga, close to Keta, on the first Saturday of each month, commemorates the Ewe people's flight from a despotic king (Togbe Agokorli) in what is now Togo.

It is distinguished by processions of chiefs who wear traditional attire as well as raucous drumming and dance.

Later in November, dance, drumming and bright costumes are features of the Agumatsa Waterfall Festival in the Wli traditional territory; one of the colorful festivals in Ghana.

Odwira

Odwira, a week-long celebration that culminates on Friday with a parade through the town to the palace, is the most significant yearly event in Ashanti.

The ninth adae of the calendar, which occurs in September, is when the Odwira often takes place.

The festivities in Kumasi, Akwapim, Akrapong, Akuapem, and Akwamu are among the most boisterous.

Akwasidae

The Akwasidae celebration, which is twice hosted in Kumasi's Manhyia Palace during each of the nine 42-day cycles (or adae) that make up their yearly calendar, is more commonly held.

Since they vary from year to year, it is impossible to offer specific dates, but generally speaking, the festival days happen on every sixth Sunday, followed by the 17th day, which is always a Wednesday.

The Asantehene (king) holds court before his people and numerous minor chiefs during this vibrant climax of the Ashanti calendar, which is accompanied by dramatic drumming and horns.

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