PANAFEST celebration begins on July 24th

General News of Sunday, July 21st, 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

2019-07-21

The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), in collaboration with the PANAFEST Foundation and the private sector, is scheduled to begin celebrating PANAFEST and this year's Emancipation Day from 24 July to 22 August.

The celebration will be held under the theme: "Beyond 400 years, across continents and in the future".

Akwesi Agyemang, chairman and CEO of GTA, said PANAFEST 2019 offers renewed hope with the growing number of people wishing to come to Ghana.

He said that about 27 years ago, the PANAFEST celebration began in Ghana and became a project inherited from Ghana's claim to be the Pan-African giant of the world.

He said: "The activities of PANAFEST and emancipation have highlighted the fact that our ancestors, through the various leaders, have never fled from the leading role of Ghana in the pan-African movement.

Mr. Agyemang said that since independence until the establishment of PANAFEST, Ghana has always been the beacon of Pan-Africanism.

"The Year of Return", PANAFEST and emancipation have a special meaning. In addition to the intrinsic value of this entire period of "year of return", Ghana has several other advantages, "he said.

He said the celebration over the years has been a public-private partnership congratulating all leaders, including the country's citizens, for their collaboration so that the celebration will always be successful.

Professor Esi Sutherland-Addy, PANAFEST Planning Committee Chair, said PANAFEST was created to use theater and the arts to tell the story and create a dialogue.

She said that it was the 13th edition of PANAFEST and that we still realized that the planned dialogue between Ghanaians and Africans in the diaspora was not going as it was supposed to be .

"Something needs to be corrected," she said, adding that it was important to know each other and to realize that we were trying to develop our continent and that everyone had to commit to it. .

She said the theme of this year's celebration was appropriate because it would reflect the idea of ​​placing oneself on the story to move forward in the future and to understand why we want to go in the future.

Professor Sutherland-Addy said that the week-long activities should take place in Accra, Cape Coast, Assin Praso, Assin Manso and Anomabo.

She added that the programs planned for this year's celebrations include the crossing of the Prah river, the pre-PANAFEST slave route pilgrimage and atonement ceremonies, the wreath-laying ceremony, the masquerade contest, visiting Kakum National Park, hosting the Godbox delegation and a return trip. in Cape Coast.

Other events include the Akwaba Ceremony, the opening of the One Africa Walls of Remembrance Museum, Expo Bazaar, the PANAFEST Men's Rugby Competition, an evening of variety shows, the big party chefs, an evening of international variety shows and shows.

The rest consists of: interreligious dialogue, cooking contest, opening of the Bisa Abrewa museum, gospel spiritual evening, theatrical performances, opening of the symposium, redemption march, reverential evening and declaration of emancipation, ceremony of the Day of Emancipation, Economic Summit of the African Diaspora and Ghanaian World Music Festival.

She urged the public to participate in all these activities, saying that this was not only for people in the diaspora, but for all Ghanaians, young and old.