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Festivals In Ghana
Festivals in Ghana are celebrated for many reasons pertaining to a particular tribe or culture, usually having backgrounds relating to an occurrence in the history of that culture. Examples of such occurrences have been hunger, migration, purification of either gods or stools, etc. Reasons for celebrating festivals The importance of each festival's celebration includes: * Planning developmental project. The festival is used as an occasions to meet and plan developmental projects in the area since most citizens are likely to attend. * Purification of gods. The period is used to clean ancestral stools and perform important rites. * Thanksgiving. The festival is used to thank the supreme God and the lesser gods for the guidance and protection * National and political significance. Prominent people in the government are invited to explain government policies and programmes. * Dispute resolution. The occasion is used to settle family and individual disputes for peaceful co-existence. * T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bakatue Festival
The Bakatue Festival is celebrated by the chiefs and peoples of Elmina in the Central Region of Ghana. The festival, established at least as far back as 1847, is celebrated on the first Tuesday in the month of July every year. The festival The Dutch reported existence of the festival at least as far back as 1847 and was mentioned in a report by Governor Cornelis Nagtglas in 1860. The festival is used to mark the beginning of the fishing season in Elmina. The name ''Bakatue'' is from the Fante dialect and translates as "draining of a lagoon". The celebration of the festival was instituted to commemorate the founding of Elmina by the Portuguese in the early days of the colonization of the then Gold Coast. It also is used to offer thanks and prayers to the gods for a good fishing year. Programme of activities The Elmina states set aside the first Monday and Tuesday of the month of July for the festival. Monday All necessary customary activities are performed on this day. Tuesday ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ho, Ghana
Ho is the capital city of the Ho Municipal District and the Volta Region of Ghana. The city lies between Mount Adaklu and Mount Galenukui or Togo Atakora Range, and is home to the Volta Regional Museum, a cathedral, and a prison.Touring Ghana – Volta Region . touringghana.com. It was formerly the administrative capital of British Togoland now part of the Volta Region. The population of Ho Municipality according to the 2010 Population and Housing Census is 177,281 representing 8.4 percent of the region's total population. Females constitute 52.7 percent and males represent 47.3 percent. About 62 percent of the population resides in urban localities. The Municipality shares boundaries with Adaklu and Agotime-Ziope Districts to the South, Ho West District to the North and West and the Togo, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Ada
Big Ada is a town in the Ada East District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The settlement lies along the road from Ada Kasseh to the district capital Ada Foah, just off the Accra-Aflao motorway. History The Ada people first migrated from Ancient Egypt, then to Nigeria in a town called Ile-Ife, through Benin among the Fon People then to Togo, and finally to Big Ada in the Greater Accra Region (present day Ghana). Big Ada was one of the first places the Ada people settled. From there, they spread out to different settlements,Amate, C.OC. The Making of Ada" 1999. but always perceived Big Ada as their home base. The village that is located on the riverbank of the Volta used to be an important trading center, profiting from the river's fantastic location. From there, goods were transported to the hinterland by canoe past the Shai and Akwamu mountains. The economic activities reached a peak around 1901 when a transportation system called the Volta River Transport ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asafotufiam Festival
The Asafotufiam Festival is celebrated by the chiefs and peoples of Ada, Ghana, Ada in the Dangme East District, Danube East of the Greater Accra Region, Greater Accra region of Ghana. The festival is celebrated in the first week of August every year. Etymology The word ‘Asafotufiam’ comes from the word ‘Asafotufiami’ which in Dangme language, Dangme means ‘Divisional Firing of Musketry’. The name "Asafo-tu-fiam" consists of three-word name components. The 1st component is "Asa" which is the plural of "Sa", a noun. The original name "Sa", which is sometimes called "Osa", "Asa" or "Aesir", means the spirit body of the Supreme Divine Creator of the Universe. According to the Ga-Adangbe people, Ga-Adamgbes, the name "Osa" or "Asa" is what has been corrupted to Osiris. "Osa" was a Nubians, Black Nubian man who was once worshipped in the world. He is one of the Holy Ancestral Divinities of the Ada people. The 2nd component is "Tu". "Tu" is the name given to a gun or a pi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akwamu
Akwamu was a state set up by the Akwamu people in present-day Ghana. After migrating from Bono state, the Akan founders of Akwamu settled in Twifo-Heman. The Akwamu led an expansionist empire in the 17th and 18th centuries. At the peak of their empire, Akwamu extended along the coast from Ouidah, Benin in the East to Winneba, Ghana in the West. History of the Akwamu state The Akwamu are one of the oldest Akan states along with the Fante and Akyem states. The Akwamu were ruled by the king of all the Aduana abusua (maternal clan). The Aduana along with the Asona are the only groups where intermarriage between the same clan members are allowed amongst Royals. Akwamu expansion started between 1629 and 1710. They expanded into the Akuapem area, including Kyerepon and Larteh, Denkyera, Ga-Adangbe; and the Ladoku states of Agona, Winneba and Afram plains. The powerful King Otumfuo Ansa Sasraku I annexed the Guan and took over the traditional areas of the Kyerepon. He ruled over them ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adae Festival
Adae Festival (Twi: "resting place") is a celebration in Ashanti. Considered a day of rest, it is the most important ancestral custom of the Ashanti people. Observance Within a six-week cycle, Adae has two celebration days, once on a Sunday (''Akwasidae'') and again on a Wednesday (''Awukudae''). The Adae cycle is repeated nine times in a year. In observance of the Akan calendar, the ninth Adae Festival, called the Adae Kese Festival ("big Adae"), coincides with celebration of the New Year. It is therefore celebrated to thank the gods and the ancestors for the new harvest. The festivals within Adae are not interchangeable, having been fixed from ancient times. Traditions The preparations for the Adae are quite elaborate. The day the preparations are made is called ''Dapaa'',(Normally on Tuesdays and Sundays) . On this day, houses and the area surrounding them are all cleaned. In front of the chief's house, drums are played by the “divine drummer” (after paying due respects to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashanti People
The Asante, also known as Ashanti () are part of the Akan ethnic group and are native to the Ashanti Region of modern-day Ghana. Asantes are the last group to emerge out of the various Akan civilisations. Twi is spoken by over nine million Asante people as a first or second language. The wealthy, gold-rich Asante people developed the large and influential Ashanti Empire, along the Lake Volta and Gulf of Guinea. The empire was founded in 1670, and the capital Kumase was founded in 1680 by Asantehene (emperor) Osei Kofi Tutu I on the advice of Okomfo Anokye, his premier. Sited at the crossroads of the Trans-Saharan trade, the Kumase megacity's strategic location contributed significantly to its growing wealth. Over the duration of the Kumase metropolis' existence, a number of peculiar factors have combined to transform the Kumase metropolis into a financial centre and political capital. The main causal factors included the unquestioning loyalty to the Asante rulers and the Kum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adae Kese Festival
Adae Kese Festival ("big resting place") is an important albeit rare celebration among the Ashantis in Ghana.There are two main periods for this celebration. 1 is awukudae and akwadidae It glorifies the achievements of the Asante kingdom. It was first celebrated to the achievement of statehood of the people, after the war that the Ashantis had their independence, in the Battle of Feyiase which they fought against the people of Denkyira. It is also the occasion when the purification ceremony of Odwira is performed at the burial shrines of ancestral spirits. Generally, this coincides with the harvest season of ''yam'' and hence the ritual was also called the "Yam custom" by Europeans. It is celebrated every two weeks by the people in accordance with the calendar of the Akans based on the cycle of forty-two days and nine months in their calendar. The festival is mostly held to climax celebrations of specific achievements and milestones of the people of the Ashanti kingdom. The festiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oguaa
Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea situated to its south. According to the 2010 census, Cape Coast had a settlement population of 169,894 people. The language of the people of Cape Coast is Fante. The older traditional names of the city are Oguaa and Kotokuraba (meaning "River of Crabs" or "Village of Crabs"). The Portuguese navigators João de Santarém and Pedro Escobar who sailed past Oguaa in 1471 designated the place ''Cabo Corso'' (meaning "short cape"), from which the name Cape Coast derives. From the 16th century to the country's independence in 1957, the city changed hands between the British, the Portuguese, the Swedish, the Danish and the Dutch. It is home to 32 festivals and celebrations. History Cape Coast was founded by the people of Oguaa and the region rul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fetu Afahye
The Fetu Afahye is a festival celebrated by the chiefs and peoples of Cape Coast in the Central region of Ghana. The festival is celebrated on the first Saturday in the month of September every year. The Fetu Afahye is celebrated annually by the Oguaa people of Cape Coast because in the past there was an outbreak of disease among the people that killed many. The people prayed to the gods to help them to get rid of the disease. Thus the festival is celebrated to keep the town clean and to prevent another epidemic befalling the people. History Fetu Afahye is an annual festival celebrated by the people and chiefs of Cape Coast Traditional Area in the Central Region of Ghana. Once upon a time there had been a plague in Cape Coast as history has it. This was devastating and as such demanded that the people of Cape Coast call for an intervention from their gods. However, it is believed that the inhabitants of Cape Coast and its environs were able to eliminate this plague with the help of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kpando
Kpando is a town and capital of Kpando Municipal District in the northern Volta Region of Ghana. It is near the north eastern arm of Lake Volta and the Togo border. Kpando is the fifty-fourth most populous place in Ghana, in terms of population, with a population of 28,334 people. Kpando is connected by ferry and road to Gbefi, Hohoe, Ho and Dambai. It is about a 4-hour journey from Accra. The Kpando Municipality is a district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ... in the Volta Region, and one of the oldest administrative districts in Ghana. History The peoples of Kpando, also called the Akpini people are Ewes believed to have been a part of the third wave of migrations from Notsie, which was located in present-day Togo and or the Benin Area, while escaping from th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gonja People
Gonja (also Ghanjawiyyu, endonym Ngbanya) was a kingdom in northern Ghana founded in 1675 by Sumaila Ndewura Jakpa. The word can also refer to the people of this kingdom. Origin The Gonja are a Guan people who have been influenced by Dagbon, Akan, Mande and Hausa people. With the fall of the Songhai Empire (c. 1600), the Mande Ngbanya clan moved south, crossing the Black Volta and founding a city at Yagbum. The Gonja kingdom was originally divided into sections overseen by male siblings of Sumaila Ndewura Jakpa including their children and grandchildren. Under the leadership of Naba'a, the Ngbanya dynasty of Gonja was founded. The capital was established at Yagbum. The Ngbanya expanded rapidly, conquering several neighbors in the White Volta valley and beginning a profitable gold trade with the Akan states through nearby Begho. By 1675, the Gonja established a paramount chief, called the Yagbongwura, to control the kingdom. The Ngbanya dynasty has controlled this positio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
