All
tribes in Ghana have their own traditional festivals. The Nzemas have
Kundum, the Ewes have Hogbetsotso, the Asantes and Vumes have Akwasidae,
and the Gas have Homowo.
All tribes in Ghana have their own traditional festivals. The Nzemas have Kundum, the Ewes have Hogbetsotso, the Asantes and Vumes have Akwasidae, and the Gas have Homowo.
As for the Kwahus, they have Easter. But Easter isn’t a traditional African festival.
Over the years, the Kwahus have put so
much into celebrating their adopted festival that it now forms part of
the national calendar. People travel from around Ghana at Easter to see
and participate in the Kwahu Easter celebrations.
The Kwahu Easter Festival showcases the
tourism potential of the forested plateau region of eastern Ghana. In
addition to the famous Easter festivities, foreign tourists are
attracted to the area to partake in its annual paragliding festival.
Marking the death and resurrection of
Christ, Easter is deeply rooted in Christian teachings and traditions;
all the same, the Kwahus have adopted it as their bona fide festival to
the extent that it has overshadowed any traditional festival they once
had.
Worthy of note is their style of
celebration, which is totally different from that of other followers of
Christ who commemorate and drive home the significance of Easter with
various church activities like Bible studies, church conventions, eating
of communion and the reenactment of the story of Christ’s death.
To the Kwahus, the Easter festival means
something more than Christ dying to save mankind and rising from the
dead. It is a special homecoming celebration of its people, a time when
families unite to reflect on the year gone by and to plan for the
future.
Traditional authorities of Kwahuman are
the ones who kick off the celebrations by pouring libation on behalf of
the Kwahu people and performing various rituals to purify the land and
to remember their ancestors. It is also a time when community members
gather to celebrate their culture and raise funds for developmental
projects.
Of course, the Kwahus seize the Easter
moment to recommit to their Christian faith, but that is just a tiny
aspect of the whole festival, which seems to have a different meaning
and significance for the youth.
They celebrate Easter on the streets
with jams, eating, drinking and dancing. One thing that doesn’t escape
even the idlest eye is the way most of the youth who participate in the
festivities dress. To be charitable, it can be described as offensive.
The traditional authorities have shown grave concern at the negative
message such dressing casts over the festival. They believe the youth
have missed the essence of Easter celebrations and are gradually turning
the Easter festival into something that Kwahuman never imagined.
Before the adoption of Easter, the
Kwahus marked festivals like Adae and 3to piti3. Although some
communities still mark these celebrations, they do not have the same
popularity as the Easter festival. Elders of the land are making
efforts, however, to remind the people to acknowledge and respect their
traditions.
Until that’s achieved, Easter remains
the central point of the culture of the Kwahus and the “traditional”
festival they are most known for.
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