By Prince Acquah
Cape Coast, Dec. 16, GNA – Ghana proved to be a place of finest display of culture and tradition after days of artistic displays of bright cultural performance ended the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC) 2022 on Thursday evening.
The last of a colourful array of performances from some three regions was added to the mix with love and unity to create a unique perfect picture.
The effortless and perfect blend of the boundless similarities and differences ranging from language, food, dance, music and musical instruments, outfits to names, among others set the country miles apart from the rest of the world.
The splendid performances by the Ashanti, Greater Accra, and Central Regions climaxed the series of regional days of the 60th anniversary of the festival in Cape Coast.
Nii Kortey Boi II, Ofankor Mantse, representing the Greater Accra House of Chiefs, Nana Boakye Yam Ababio II, Nkwantakesehene, representing the Asantehene and Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, Oguaamanhen, graced the durbar in their colourful regalia.
The Ahwehwɛ Youth Dance Ensemble from the Greater Accra Region blessed the gathering with an array of Ga-Dangme dances of the different clans, including Gome, Kpanlogo and Otofo.
The display was interspersed with a splendid performance of lost traditional games and acrobatics.
The group returned later with a well-rehearsed “harvest dance” for crop and fish farmers which saw them happily weeding with cutlasses and dragging a fishing net.
The Ashanti Region stretched the joy with a custom and tradition-packed drama dubbed “Unity and Development” by the Amamreso Agofomma, resident theatre group of the Ashanti Regional Centre for National Culture, and the Palace Players, young trainees from various schools.
The drama opened with a fight between two groups who killed themselves over a piece of land but were later resurrected by a traditional priest.
The priest preached unity to them, and they later came together to crown Asantehemaa for the people after which development began.
The Folkloric Group from the Central Region served a theatrical simulation of the enstoolment of an Asafohen when they took the stage.
The drama was garnished with a series of traditional dances including “Ompe”, an indigenous Fante dance which traces its origin from the story of Moses in the Bible.
The Asafo Companies are local Military groups that form part of the Traditional Councils among the Akan people.
The Fantes are particularly noted for the Asafo Flag Dance which forms a very vital part of their rites and rituals. The flags are symbolic to the companies.
NAFAC is celebrated every two years on rotational basis to provide a platform to showcase the diversity and richness in the country’s ethnic and regional cultures to stimulate peace and unity.
The last time the Central Region hosted the event was in 1996, some 26 years ago.
This year’s celebration marks the 60th anniversary of the event and it is on the theme: “Reviving Patriotism, Peace and Unity through Cultural Diversity for Sustainable Development”.
The festival is expected to end with a grand durbar Friday.
Madam Edna Nyame announced that subsequent celebrations of the festival would start from the newly created region, starting with the Bono East Region in 2024.
Osabarimba Kwesi Atta proposed to the organisers of the festival to make it an annual event considering its enormous benefits the Ghanaian culture and development.
In a speech read on his behalf, Mr Henry Quartey, the Greater Accra Minister said cultural diversity must not be an instrument of division but a uniting force.
For his part, Mr Simon Osei-Mensah, the Ashanti Regional Minister in a speech delivered on his behalf urged all stakeholders to actively support the culture and arts sector to grow properly, adding that “Let us all help to preserve our cultural heritage.”
GNA