Festivals are very important on any calendar of most countries across the country. Ghana has very historic festivals which include the Homowo Festival, Fetu Afahye, Odwira just to mention a few. One cannot talk about festival in the history of Ghana without talking about the Bakatue festival. The Bakatue festival is celebrated by the people of Elmina in the Central Region of Ghana. This festival normally comes off during the first week of July and it celebrates the traditions of the township whiles focusing on the basic fishing history behind the festival as well as the history behind the Benya Lagoon.
The festival has been on the hold for the past two years due to some traditional problems which have been solved now. The youth within the township have been waiting for the festival to be celebrated as expected and thus the launching of the Bakatue Festival on the 29th April 2014 at Elmina, Benya Shrine.
The launching as usual started with the arrival of dignitaries’ (Chiefs, Regional Minister, Member of Parliament, Municipal Chief Executive and Dr. Cadman Mills) these dignitaries were highly welcomed by the traditional dance group (Apatampa Dance Group) in Elmina.
Traditional prayer was said which focused on unity and development. The people of Elmina were urged to leave the past behind them and move on in Unity and Development. The invited speakers talked about unity and urged the people of Elmina to patronize locally manufactured products.
The speakers used that opportunity to call on all the indigenes in the Diasporas to return home and not to forget their tradition. The people of Elmina were asked to put away any differences and misunderstanding that has been existing between them and support their leaders in bringing development to the area. The event was climaxed by the launching of the Edinaman Education Fund as part of the 16th Celebration of The Paramount Chief of Elmina; Nana Kojo Conduah.
The former Flag bearer of Progressive People Party; Dr. Paapa Kwesi Nduom and the Member of Parliament for the area; Dr. Nana Ato Arthur donated 2000 Ghana cedis each to the fund.
The Education fund will be used to support students from the area in furthering their educations(secondary/ tertiary). PZ Cussons as one of the main sponsors for the festival donated GHc3000 towards the celebration of the festival. This year’s festival will be celebrated with the theme; “Time to promote Ghana’s Trade Potential is now…Patronize Ghana Made…Be a proud Ghanaian” the festival will come off from Tuesday, 1st – 6th July 2014 at Elmina.
Source: www.cape360gh.com
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