THE second edition of the Oneness Festival aimed at celebrating and showcasing the different cultures of Ghanaian communities has been launched in Accra.

Graced by traditional rulers, including the Paramount Chief of the Buipe Traditional Area, Jira Buipewura Abdulai Jinapor II, and other chieftains of Ghanaian tradition and culture, the event provided a foretaste of the main festival.

This year’s four-day event, scheduled to take place in Tamale from November 13 to 16, is to be organised by The Taste of Afrika (TTOA), an entertainment and events company, in collaboration with the Ghana Tourism Authority, the Northern Development Authority and the Diaspora Affairs Unit of the Office of the President.

International partners for the event include the Harlem Tourism Board and African Tourism Board.

The festival is also aimed at fostering mutual understanding, and developing the tourism industry to attract investors.

It will be held on the theme: “Leveraging our strength for shared growth and prosperity as one people”.

The festival features a diverse range of activities, including visits to tourist sites, a cultural durbar, an economic development business forum, street carnival, a fashion show, and a musical concert. 

The maiden edition was organised in Tamale in December last year to promote cultural awareness and unique Ghanaian traditions, arts and music.

Oneness festival

The Co-Founder of the festival, Tengol Kplemani, explained that the festival was created with Martin Christopher Glin to promote the northern part of Ghana to the world.

He said their objective was to change the negative narrative about the northern side of Ghana.

“The primary objective of the festival is to foster unity among kings, chiefs and the people of the northern sector, thereby promoting community development,” he said.

He said the festival offered an opportunity for participants to meet and network with high level industry experts, and to experience the rich diverse cultures of northern Ghana.

He said last year’s event contributed to promoting unity and inter-cultural cohesion through a durbar of kings and chiefs from different kingdoms.

The Executive Director of the National Commission on Culture, Nana Otuo Owoahene Acheampong, called on the public to embrace culture, and to desist from reducing it to only music and dance.

“Unfortunately, the public perception about culture is reduced to only music and dancing. To make any meaningful progress as a nation, we need to embrace our culture and all its manifestations, while at the same time welcoming contemporary initiatives but with caution,” he said.

“Our national life has their cultural dimensions for which the National Commission on Culture is responsible for managing them.”

Commitment

The Paramount Chief of the Buipe Traditional Area called on the public to commit to celebrating cultural diversity, promoting dialogue and harnessing the profound potential of culture to effect positive change. 

“Together, the Cultural Oneness Festival will become the Sage of Africa in future.”

“As postulated by a renowned philosopher, Peter Drucker, that ‘the best way to predict the future is to create it’, we have launched and created it, and the future is bright,” Jira Buipewura Jinapor said.

He urged the media to help to promote the significance of the Oneness Festival, and urged the public to embrace the advocacy with open hearts and minds, “united in shared passion for the arts”.

Source: GraphicOnline