Traditional festivals

Carpe Diem: Seize the Moment. Phrases that describe the attitude of today’s Ghanaians, Togolese and Beninese
allowing them to celebrate life to the full and with great joy. Many and varied festivals are celebrated in the 3 countries. Each one brings a community together to share the dance, song, and music of their own unique tradition. The dances can be wild, the songs powerful, the rhythm of the music hypnotic and the costumes and masks multi coloured and extravagant. Venues vary from the grandeur of the royal courts filled with dignitaries dressed in tribal costume, to the simplicity offered by the shade of a lakeside mango tree under which villagers fill the air with their joyful celebrations. Wherever you are you can be sure of a warm welcome and an invitation to join the celebrations.
That happy feeling flows into daily life, from the chatter of women selling tomatoes at the market, children dancing on their way to school, noisy gatherings around the water pump, fisherman straining to land their catch, the faithful heading towards the mosque, the church or the fetish you’ll find radiant smiles lighting up faces as the visitor is welcomed. Let the people of West Africa share with you their lands, cultures, rich heritage and harmonious atmosphere.

Gelede, traditional Festival of the Fon and Yoruba of South Benin

Gelede is a cult dedicated to Mother Earth. It is celebrated by the whole community to promote fertility of both the people and the soil. Each sculpted mask represents a different character, only the initiates know the true nature and secrets of the symbolic characters. The masks are brightly painted and move like puppets as they relate myths and moral stories using mime. It is both educational and very humorous. The delighted crowds laugh and clap their hands as they watch in appreciation. It is a fascinating mix of street theatre and magical theatre.

Egun, traditional Celebration of the Fon and Yoruba of South Benin

Egun masks represent the spirits of the deceased and according to the local population they “are” the deceased.
The men wearing the masks representing Egun are initiates of the cult. Dressed in brightly multicoloured clothing they emerge from the forest and form a procession through the village streets, leaping towards any foolish spectator who dares to get too close. You don’t want the Egun to touch you because if he does; there is danger of death, so watch out! Some people touched by the Egun immediately collapse into a heap on the ground but fortunately they recover
quickly. On arrival the masks perform a kind of bull fight which is designed to create fear but is greeted with peels of laughter by many.

Zangbeto, traditional Celebration of the Fon in South Benin

The Zangbeto mask is very tall and covered with coloured straw. It represents wild non human spirits (the forces of nature and the night that inhabited the earth before becoming human). The wearers of the masks belong to a secret society and keep their identity hidden; they are unknown to the uninitiated. The appearance of Zangbeto is a big important festival for the village. Its performance guarantees protection against bad spirits and people. The spinning movement of the mask symbolises the spiritual cleansing being done throughout the village by Zangbeto, miracles are also performed proving his powers.

Voodoo, traditional religion on the Gulf of Guinea Coast

All along the coast of Benin and Togo, voodoo, an animist religion, is largerly followed. Passed down by the ancestors it is still practised with fervour. The religious experience is much richer and more complex than westerners can imagine. These voodoo practises are not a form of black magic. To millions both here and abroad Voodoo represents a religion that gives meaning and order to their lives. In the towns and villages one can join in the Voodoo ceremonies. The compelling rhythm of the percussion and the chants of the participants help to invoke the voodoo spirit which takes procession of some of the dancers who fall into a deep trance. Traditional healer treat illness with local herbs and also by offering sacrifices to the fetish altars that fill their courtyard. The God “Fa” is an esoteric divinity whom people consult about all life’s big and little matters. A fetish priest interprets the answers to the listening questioner.

Fire dance , Traditional Festival of the Tem in Central Togo

In the centre of the village a large fire lights up the faces of the participants, who dance to the hypnotic beat of the drums eventually leaping into the glowing embers. They pick up burning coals and pass them over their bodies and even put them in their mouths without injuring themselves or showing any sign of pain. It’s difficult to explain such a performance. Is it matter of courage? Auto suggestion? Magic? Maybe it is really is the fetishes that protect them from the fire.

Ashanti Funerals: Traditional Ceremonies to Commemorate the Dead in Ghana

Ashanti funerals are celebrated to remember the dead and are unique events that take place after the deceased has been buried. It marks the transition of the soul of the deceased, called Okra, into the ancestral world where it becomes a protector of the clan and therefore much venerated. Family, friends and acquaintances, sometimes in their hundreds, take part in the celebrations. They all come dressed in traditional costume, a large piece of black cloth that is worn over one shoulder, just like a toga, the relatives can be recognised as they wear black and red. The chiefs attending the funeral sit shaded under large colourful parasols surrounded by their courtiers.
After the ritual greetings, expressed on arrival, everyone takes their place. Some dance, their movements slow and graceful with fine gestures, rich in erotic and heroic symbolism.

Akwasidae, traditional Festival at the Royal Court of the Ashanti King in Ghana

The Ashanti calendar has 42 days in a month. The first day of the new month is a huge celebration, the Akwasidae. It takes place in the royal palace, with hundreds of people attending wearing traditional dress.
The start of the ceremony takes place in the throne room, where only the initiates are allowed. Ritual libations of blood and schnapps are poured onto the thrones of the ancient kings as offerings to them and the ancestors.
After this the king, the Asantehene, proceeds to court where he is seated under a large brightly coloured parasol. Dressed in vibrant colours and decorated with large pieces of old gold jewellery he greets his people. (Ashanti jewellery and masks are renowned works of African Art.)
Participants seated in front of the king leave a corridor down which courtiers approach to offer their allegiance and present him with gifts. There are chiefs under their parasols, sword carriers, bearers of ritual knives, armed guards with loaded rifles and nobles with ostrich feather fans. On either side of the king are dignitaries and counsellors of court. The royal speaker, standing by his side, holds a golden sceptre a symbol of the Asantehene power. The Queen mother, the most important woman in the realm, is present surrounded by her court which is composed entirely of
women. Accompanying this, griots recite the history and glories of the past Ashanti kings, musicians play on drums and ivory horns supplying rhythm to the ceremony and performers swathed in scarlet cloth dance tradition steps characterised by a succession of delicate and rapid movements.

Evala, “muscles gift” it is the traditional fight festival in the Kabye region. It is a very important moment for the social life of young guys from 18 to 25 years old of this ethnic group: the chance for the young Evalou (fighter) to distinguish himself among his fellows for pride, braveness and humility. This ritual ceremony values the integration in the man society.
Akpema is the initiation of the young Kabye girls, a passage rite from the teenagers to the adulthood. A period of proves and teachings that prepare these girls to become women and good wives.

August

Asafotufiam Festival, in Ada (Ghana)

This festival celebrates the peace and the unity the ancestors of these ethnic groups obtained after a bloody war with an intelligent meeting. During one week of dances and libations, among the echoing of the shooting of ancient weapons and the sound of tam tam, the traditional chiefs, showing richness and power, are brought by palanquin on the shoulders of Asafo warrior companies dressing beautiful traditional clothes to the durbar, the place where they meet the population and they issue thankful and propitiation speeches.

September

The Ekpe Ekpe festival in Glidji (Togo) announces the beginning of the New Year for the Guin people. In the heart of the ceremony, the main fetish priest will receive in his hands, directly by god, a sacred stone: its colour shows the characteristic of the beginning year. A thousand of adepts, white dressing and adorned by nice magic powered beads, after they crowded the roads with long pilgrimages and they spent a week in praying, celebrating and dancing, brings the stone out with a big ovation.

The Fetu Afhaye festival in Cape Coast (Ghana) has been celebrating for 4 centuries by some Akan ethnic tribes. At the beginning it was a festival of the harvest that goes on till today with offering the first crops to the protecting ancestor spirits. The “durbar” is the most important moment of the ceremony. A procession made by the traditional chiefs with their royal insignias and the Asafo warrior companies with their well-known flags.

Gerewol, around Agadez (Niger). In the wide plains where uncertain is the border between the desert and the savanna, after the rainy season sporadic grass fields try to survive in the sand. In this ‘’green’’ season the Vodaabe nomads join together to celebrate their annual festival called Gerewol.
In opposition to a surrounding landscape dominated by uniformity where the individuality vanish in a space without limits the Vodaabe celebrate the ‘’festival of beauty’’.

October

Millet Festival in Krobo/Odumase (Ghana). The Krobo produce “magic” beads both for decoration both for using during initiation rites. All these uses are well resumed during the Millet Festival: all the population gathers around their traditional chiefs to thank the spirits for the abundant harvest.

November

Diafarabe, (Mali) Niger river crossing

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