Festivals Calendar

A community celebration with drumming, dance, crafts and other cultural displays.

Celebrate the friendship between the Dutch and the people of Elmina. Elaborate fish-catching rituals, and the firing of musketry. Drumming, dancing, singing. Sheep are sacrificed in front of Elmina castle.

Fire festival.

Thanksgiving offering of sacrifices, traditional music, dancing and celebration among the Telensi tribe.

Thanksgiving harvest festivals. Stalks of millet are displayed as a sign of sacrifice and thanks.

Thanksgiving sacrifices by the Gurunsis tribe, followed by drumming, dancing and procession of chiefs.

Celebration by blacksmiths of the Zaare of the main farming tool of the area: the hoe. Events include sacrifices, followed by drumming and dancing.

Thanksgiving harvest festivals. Farm produce is displayed during music, dance and merry-making.

Procession of chiefs & militia, cow sacrifice & ritual to secure cow meat.

For the monkeys at the sanctuary.

Pomp and pagentry to renew frienship between the four communities. Grand procession of chiefs.

Celebrates the ancestors who brought fire to the area.

Path clearing festival, where paths to communal sites are cleared. The following day there is a parade of clay-covered people carrying twigs and tree branches, drumming & dancing and firing of musketry.

Commemorates the migration of the Nkusukum people to their present settlement. Features the re-enactment of the ancient life styles of the people.

Commemorates victories of warriors with a procession of chiefs, historic re-enactments and musketry firing.

A yam harvest festival celebrated in many villages of the Akuapim Range. This festival originated as a celebration of victory over the invincible Ashanti army during the historic battle of Katamansu near Dodowa in 1826 and also to cleanse themselves and ask for protection from their gods

Asking for good rain and successful farming. Public music and dancing.

Durbar, drumming and dance celebrates the long-ago hunter that discovered the yam tuber while on a hunting expedition.

A grand procession of chiefs to commemorate the exodus of the Anlo-Ewes from Northern Togo to their present location in the southeastern wetlands of Ghana. A grand procession of chiefs with drumming, dancing and singing.

Ritual and procession of chiefs on Saturday. Commemorates the origin of the Ashantis.

Procession of chiefs and people pay homage to Yaa Asantewaa, the Ashanti war heroine who defeated the British.

Post-harvest celebration to acknowledge the gods. Dance groups compete and 'best dancer' and 'best community group' are awarded prizes.

Events that commemorate the final abolition of Chatel Slavery in the British colonies on 1st August 1834. Ghana was the first country in Africa to officially celebrate Emancipation Day in 1998. Ceremonies are conducted at the W.E.B. Du Bois Centre, the George Padmore Library and the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park in Accra. On Odd years, this celebration is part of the PANAFEST.

Consultation of the Koran by the Chief Imam to predict the coming year.

Fire festival, with night processions with torches into the bush and outskirts of towns and villages within Gonjaland. Koran recitals.

Music, drumming, dance, and a durbar of chiefs to remember the ancestors.

Traditional music and dances, costumes, and thanks for the harvest.

Opening of the Lagoon, elaborate rituals and royal processions, at the river bank and on palanquins on the lagoon. Very popular festival.

Exciting durbar of chiefs on the Saturday climax of this week-long celebration featuring food, dress and dance to ask for future blessing and guidance.

This festival is celebrated to thank family gods and ask them to bless the soil, protect the people during the farming seasons.

Initiation of girls into womanhood with beautiful adornments.

Procession of chiefs and people with general merry-making.

Commemorate the escape of the Ewes under the cruel King Aghorkoli in Togo. To escape, the Ewes poured water on a section of the walls that enslaved them, brought the wall down and then walked backwards to disguise their route. This is re-enacted for all to feel what really happened. The climax of the festival is the display of rich traditional cloths and beads and a grand durbar of chiefs.

A grand procession of chiefs wearing traditional hand-woven Ewe-style Kente cloth.

Celebrates the bravery and wisdom of Nana Wiafe Akenten I, who accepted land instead of jewelry from the Ashanti King as a reward for loyalty in warfare. Grand procession of chiefs with drumming, dancing and musket firing.

Dispel evil and please the ancestors to ensure good crops.

Apiba Festival is an annual festival celebrated by the chiefs and peoples of Senya Beraku in the Central Region of Ghana. 

Huge biennial event of African culture. Theater, music, cinema, poetry and lectures combines with traditional processions.

Thanksgiving harvest festivals. Stalks of millet are displayed as a sign of sacrifice and thanks.

Most important thanksgiving festival in Upper West. Time of prayer, re-uniting of families and many traditional marriages.

Yam festival at this unique enclave of Judaism.

Thanksgiving and commemorate the Anlo-Ewe migration to this area. War dances, songs and bonfire jumping with a grand procession of area chiefs.

A grand procession of chiefs to commemorate the exodus from Northern Togo. War dances, songs and drums.

Expedition to the base of the mountain where Krobo people were evicted by the British. Procession of chiefs will climax this celebration.

Harvest and thanksgiving festival.

Festival to purify the royal stools of area chiefs. Prayers to ancestors for a good harvest and long life.

Durbar of chiefs for an abundant harvest and peace.

Durbar of chiefs, dance competitions, football matches, musical performances, and traditional drumming are all to be found at this festival promoting diversity and bringing neighbours into dialogue.

Much pagentry, grand procession of chiefs riding palanquins amidst drumming, dancing and singing of war songs.

This festival features various ceremonies, tributes, community service, and merry-making lasting most of the month.

Important festival commemorates victory over the slave raider Babatu. War dances in various communities with grand procession of chiefs at climax. Traditional headgear is topped with enormous antlers.

Kente festival of Volta Region. Thousands attend to see Kente-weaving competition, the crowning of Miss Agbamevor (Miss Kente), and the beautiful procession of chiefs.

Ritual and procession of chiefs on Saturday. Commemorates the origin of the Ashantis.

Commemorates bravery of the Agaves. Grand procession of chiefs with traditional drumming and dancing.

Dodoleglime, which in Ewe literally means coming out of the wall, marks the escape of the people from the tyrannical rule of Togbe Agorkoli of Notsie in the 17th century.

Celebration of the local deity Asafua.

Festival of rememberances to ancestors with plenty of drumming and dance.

Rememberance of the migration of Juabeng people from Ashanti to the area.

Thanksgiving at Wilaa shrine for guidance and protection.

Hugely popular festival. Friday rituals. Saturday competition to catch a live deer accompanied by drumming and dancing. Sunday at 14:00 is sacrifice. Like Jewish Passover, houses receive a smear of sheep blood and a sprinkling of dough mix meal on the three days before the festival begins.

Huge celebration with chiefs carried on palanquins. A time to commemorate the ancestors of the Gbi-Ewes. Thousands of people attend. Various community activities throught the month.

The Damba festivals occur throughout the northern regions of Ghana, These celebrations coincide with the new farming season when new yam is harvested. Originally linked with Islam to mark the birth of Mohammed, the two-day festival has gradually taken on a traditional rather than Islamic tone, with pageantry and showmanship. Procession on horseback amidst drumming and dancing.

Ceremony to open Sakumo Lagoon for fishing. A grand procession of chiefs and people, with free-for-all hugging.

Remembrance of the area chief who joined Yaa Asantewaa to fight the British.

Anniversary of Akyem Nation and thanksgiving for the harvest. There is a two-week ban on drumming, dancing and noisemaking prior to the festival.

Harvest festival, a period to remember ancestors, expel evil spirits, cleanse the community and set goals for the coming year. This festival is celebrated in coastal towns during different weeks over the course of a number of months.

Rice harvest festival and commemoration of the victory that secured the current homeland. Drumming, dancing, singing and durbar of chiefs.

A grand procession of chiefs to commemorate the exodus from Northern Togo. War dances, songs and drums with a grand procession of area chiefs.

Anniversary of Akyem Nation and thanksgiving for the harvest. There is a two-week ban on drumming, dancing and noisemaking prior to the festival.

Harvest and thanksgiving festival of the Talensis tribe with sacrifices to gods.

Celebrated throughout the northern regions of Ghana in June with drumming & dance, much food, and durbars of chiefs.

Visitors are greeted with food and drink as locals adorn traditional clothing. Colourful durbar of chiefs carried in palanquins is accompanied by dancing, drumming and horn blowing.

Oguaa tribe's Adorning of new clothes, or Carnival. Enormous Monday night procession of traditional priests and priestesses. Bakatue ceremony and boat race at the Fosu lagoon. First Saturday in September is a huge procession of chiefs.

Harvest and thanksgiving festival.

Commemorates victory over slave raiders.

Cassava festival with displays of over 20 different products made from the cassava plant.

Celebrates the ancestors who brought fire to the area.

Solemn vigil to remember those ancestors who became slaves during the Middle Passage. Attendees are encouraged to wear white. On Odd years, this is celebration is part of the PANAFEST.