The Pride of the Ghanaian Society "Festivals"

Ghana indeed has a colorful, rich and a vibrant culture.
Festivals specifically being essential part of the Ghanaian culture is chiefly celebrated throughout
the year in the country by every community to solicit the ancestors for protection and blessing to usher them into a new traditional year with confidence and hope.
These festivals also reunite the people, brings developmental projects for the various communities as
well as renew allegiance.

     From the north to the south, festivals are celebrated every month with grand durbars to climax it.
Some of these festivals include the odwira of the Akuapems(thus harvest/purification), Dipo of the Krobo(rite of passage), Aboakyir( deer hunting), Bakatue(fish hunting), Hogbetsotso of the Anlos, Damba and Fiok(war festival).
The Dipo of the Krobo for instance celebrated in February apparently is a rite of passage entailing ushering of young girls into womanhood.
The puberty ceremony allows the girls to parade the principal streets cladded in amazing  traditional  attires amidst drumming and dancing.

The Aboakyir festival celebrated by the people of Winneba in the central province is commemorated by sending two clans on a hunting expedition.
The clan to return  the animal(deer) first is regarded as brave and thereof purification.
The odwira festival (harvest) and purification is equally commemorated by the Akuapims to purify the society.It is mostly celebrated in September. The festivity commences by cleaning the community and the royal mausoleum believed to be the paths that would be used by the ancestors to grace the occasion.
It is then followed by the lifting of the ban on eating of new yams, mourning to remember the dead, preparation of the sacred mixture which is presented to the paramount chief and cleansing of the black stool which takes place in the evening of Thursday then on Friday, chiefs are carried in palanquins to parade the principal streets to which a grand durbar is held.

The significance of all these festivals transcends across every aspects of the Ghanaian life from social, political, economical, moral, to religious.
In the religious sense, the chiefs and the people solicit prosperity and protection as well as thank the ancestors for what has being done in the preceding years.
Socially, families reunite, freinds are made and mostly its serves as periods when family issues are settled.
Politically, the citizen get to asses the efficiency of their leaders where as the leaders also initiate developmental projects at durbars.
Sub chiefs also engage in the renewal of allegiance to the superior aiding unity.
Recently the Akuapem state was in a chieftaincy dispute for two decades after a communal violence between the people of Akropong and Abiriw.
Consequently some of the chiefs specifically Aburi chief, Larteh and Adukrom broke away from the Ofori Kumah stool at Akropong to form their own paramountcy, but  the five divisional chiefs of the area on August 27,2013 reunited by signing an accord and declared that they were reunited.

Historically, youths are enlightened about their history thus origin and how various communities hitherto came to settle at their present  settkement.
The Homowo festival distinguihes this feature.
Economically, most festivals have become scences of attractions. Visitors contribute to the development of the towns.
Besides, businesses are established in the process.
All these numerous benefits establishes the reason why our cultural festivals and heritage should be maintained and promoted.