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Odwira Festival
The Akan Festival of Purification — cleansing the community and honoring ancestors.
📅 September 15 – 8 days
✦ Why It Matters
Odwira is one of the most important festivals of the Akan people of Ghana, observed annually to purify the community, honor the ancestors (Nananom), and give thanks to the Supreme Being (Nyame). It marks the new year for many Akan groups and reaffirms the social and spiritual bonds of the community.
✦ How It Is Observed
Ritual purification of the palace and community, libation pouring to ancestors, processions with the royal stool (symbol of the soul of the nation), community meals of new yam, music, drumming, and dance.
✦ Sacred Text
“The family is like the forest. When you are outside, it is dense. When you are inside, you see that each tree has its own place.”
— Akan tradition ↗