The coastal city of Winneba was thrown into a frenzy of excitement and joy as hundreds of Ghanaians and foreigners joined the chiefs and people of Effutu Traditional Area to climax the 2023 Aboakyer Festival on Saturday.
The festival, marked in breath-taking traditional glamour, offered a euphoric atmosphere of singing, dancing and friendly traditional and contemporary competitions with an impressive youthful participation.
The highly patronised annual festival was celebrated amid heavy security presence, with some officers deployed to ease vehicular gridlock created by the blocking of some inner roads.
The week-long festival is celebrated to appease the main deity of the Effutu State, Penkye Otu.
Traditionally, sacrifices offered to the gods ward off evil from the town, seeking blessings of bounty harvest.
Held on the theme: “Your Participation Makes a Difference for Development,” this year’s celebration was a major tourist attraction.
It was also a unique business opportunity for many traders and food vendors.
The event was attended by Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, the Central Regional Minister; Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng, the Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs; Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, Ambassadors among many other dignitaries.
As tradition demands, there was a majestic procession of chiefs of the traditional area who were adorned in colourful kente cloths and golden regalia to the durbar grounds.
Neenyi Ghartey VII, the Paramount Chief of Effutu Traditional Area, was accompanied by his brother, Mr Joe Ghartey, a former Attorney-General and aspiring presidential candidate for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
They were warmly received with cheers by an animated and jubilant crowd who waited with bated breath for the crowning moment – the arrival of the Asafo companies who had set out to the forest earlier in the day in search for a live deer.
At exactly 10:10 hours, one of the two Asafo companies, Tuafo Number One, returned with a deer, which was accepted by the Paramount Chief through prescribed customary rites.
The second group, Dentsefo Number Two, came later at around 11:20 hours with the second deer and joined their counterparts to parade major streets of Winneba in identifiable outfits and body paintings.
Both arrivals were met with wild jubilations from the crowd who screamed, sang, and applauded in praise of their feat.
Mrs Assan commended the people for organising a peaceful celebration and urged them to continue holding their tradition in high esteem.
