Nkyidwo Festival is an annual festival celebrated by the chiefs and peoples of Essumeja in the
Bekwai District in the
Ashanti Region
The Ashanti Region is located in southern part of Ghana and it is the third largest of 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of or 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. In terms of population, however, it is the mo ...
of
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
. It is usually celebrated in the last Monday in November or the first Monday in December.
Celebrations
There are performances of durbar by the traditional leaders and rituals at a place in the Asantemanso forest which was claimed to be the origin of the ancestral
Asantes.
The people invoke the gods for blessings, prosperity and protection.
Significance
It is celebrated to mark the appearance of the first seven Asante ancestors who were claimed to have come from a huge hole in the ground, marking the
Ashanti origin.
It was also claimed it happened on a Monday night and they were followed by a dog and a lion.
References
Festivals in Ghana
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