Upper East Region is the ancient crossroads for trans-Saharan trade routes, and it is the entryway to Ghana from Burkina Faso. Much of the scenery is huge savannah grasslands, peppered with strange-looking baobab trees, or spectacular Sahel terrain, making for an interesting start to Ghana. Communal activities continue in the communities, which are distinguished by their characteristic round huts, as they have for decades.
Hamale and Kapulima are the main Burkina Faso border crossing points. Paga and Kulungugu are two names for the same thing.
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Festivals Celebrated in Upper East Region
There are lots of festivals celebrated in the Upper East among the ethnic groups and below are the names of the festivals.
Samanpiid Festival
The Kusasis celebrate the Samanpiid Festival every year in the Kusaug Traditional Area in Ghana’s Upper East Region. The festival is held to express gratitude to God for a plentiful harvest throughout the farming season. The inaugural event was held in 1987. Former President Jerry John Rawlings was a guest speaker at the 26th Anniversary.
Gologo Festival
The Gologo celebration, also referred as the Golib festival, takes place in March, towards the end of the dry season, just before the early millet is sewn. The Gologo Festival is one of Ghana’s major festivals and is held by the chiefs and peoples of Talensi, Tong-Zuf, in the country’s Upper East Region, with the goal of “reinforcing communal belief in the Nnoo shrine or Golib god,” which governs Talensi agricultural life. It is a pre-harvest celebration held in the months of March and April, during which sacrifices are made to the terrestrial gods in exchange for protection and a successful crop in the coming season. The festival takes place for three days
Ndaakoya festival
Ndaakoya is a celebration held in the Upper East Region of Ghana by the Frafra, Talensi, and Nabdan speaking people. It is traditionally observed in the first few months of each new year (January and February) to thank God for a prosperous harvest.
Ndaakoya is made up of two Frafra words: Ndaa, which means “at that time” or “days,” and Koya, which means “I have farmed” or “farming.” As a result, the word Ndaakoya means “during that period when I cultivated.” The Ndaakoya festival is the biggest event in the Upper East Region, and it is celebrated by the Frafra, Talensi, and Nabdan populations. These individuals make up the vast bulk of the region’s population. The festival is an inherited tradition conducted by these cultures to feel grateful to the gods of their land for a good crop and placate them. Their forebears thought that good harvest yields, rain, sunshine, and other things necessary for a good harvest were the result of the craftsmanship of the gods.
Boaram Festival
The Boaram Festival is an annual harvest festival held by the chiefs and people of Talensis in Ghana’s Upper East Region’s Bongo Traditional Area. Between the months of October and November, it is traditionally observed.
After gathering farm produce, the festival is held to thank the gods and ancestors for providing good health and vigor throughout the farming season.
Tengana Festival
The Tongo Traditional Area’s chiefs and people celebrate the Tengana Festival every year. In Ghana’s Upper East Region, it includes Balungu, Winkongo, and Pwalugu. It’s also a Talensis celebration. It is observed in the month of January.
Traditional music and dancing are performed during the festival, as well as broad merriment.
Fiok festival
The Fiok festival (also known as Feok Festival) is celebrated by the chiefs and peoples of Sandema in the Upper East Region of Ghana.The festival is celebrated in the month of December every year.
It did not exist as a district or national festival occasion before to 1974, but rather as a customary harvest thanksgiving sacrifice practiced in practically all traditional Bulsa houses. As a result, the Feok Festival could be considered as a new Bulsa creation aimed at promoting togetherness and accelerating socio-economic and political development.
When it comes to their beginnings, the Bulsa, who today celebrate the Feok Festival as a single people, are anything but homogeneous. They are, in fact, a diverse group of many former nationalities that came into the Bulsa enclave in the 16th century from neighboring tribes. The primary ethnic groups that have established themselves in the traditional Bulsa area are the following: Kasena, Mamprusi, Nankana.
Fau, which has gradually been corrupted to Feo, Fiok, Feok (and others), is an age-old idol worship practiced by the Kasena or Kasem speaking tribe in their individual homes as a way of thanking their individual gods (wena) and ancestors for guarding/guiding them during previous planting and harvest sessions. When the Kasena relocated into what is now the Bulsa enclave or traditional region, they carried this with them, and it was quickly adopted by practically all other tribes in the area, with the exception of the Kantosi/Yarsi or Yarisa, who are devout Muslims.
Fao festival
The chiefs and people of Navrongo in Ghana’s Upper East Region commemorate the Fao festival. Every year in the month of January, the festival is held.