This year’s PANAFEST/Emancipation Day celebrations to be organised by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MoTAC) and in partnership with the PANAFEST Secretariat will start from July 19 to August 1.
The PANAFEST will be on the theme: “Re-claiming the African family: Confronting the past to face the challenges of the 21st century”, while Emancipation Day celebration would be on the theme: “Emancipation! Empowering the African family to confront challenges of the 21st century”.
PANAFEST is a cultural event held in Ghana every two years for Africans and people of African descent to promote and enhance unity, Pan Africanism and the development of the continent of Africa. Emancipation Day also marks the abolition of slavery in the British Colonies in 1834.
It is an annual observance introduced in Ghana in 1998. Ghana is the first African nation to commemorate the resistance and liberation struggle of African people in the diaspora against enslavement and the violation of their human rights.
The 2023 celebrations mark the 25th year of the commemoration of Emancipation Day in Ghana. The activities for the celebration would be held in three regions – Greater Accra, Northern and Central regions.
The PANAFEST celebration would begin on July 19, while the Emancipation Day celebration would start on July 24.
Some activities lined up for both events are the northern pilgrimage, atonement ceremony in Salaga, river crossing in Assin Manso, wreath laying ceremony in Accra, return journey and Akwaaba ceremony in Cape Coast.
There would also be workshops, film shows, youth day, international music concert, durbar of traditional leaders, and a night of creative expressions. Others are tour of slave market site, Bono Manso, creative explosion, return conversations of bazaar and expo, African wellness and fitness, mixology of Afrobeat, colloquium, and the awarding of honorary degrees by University of Cape Coast.
The rest are sporting activities, old school night, interfaith dialogue, inter-denominational church service, women’s day, reverential night, reading of proclamation, and 25th Anniversary Emancipation Day Durbar. GNA
