Geographies of Gomoa Fetteh Ahobaa Festival: Origin, Musical Performance and Socio-Cultural Impact

Abstract:

There has been a remarkable rise in documentation of festivals in Ghana in recent decades. Specific historical accounts as well as music making activities of some festivals in the Fante communities have not received sufficient scholarly attention, especially, in social and cultural terms. This paper was a qualitative research to document the of Gomoa Fetteh Ahobaa festival: Origin, musical performance and socio-cultural impact geographies of one of the Fante communities; Gomoa Fetteh in terms of its origin, festival, musical performance as well as the socio-cultural impact of the festival on the people. In gathering the data for the study, the chief, chief priest, elders of the chief palace, the musical ensembles as well as a cross section of some citizens were selected. Interview and observation were used to garner the needed data to answer the research questions. Indeed, while the Gomoa people found themselves in the present location from the major Fante ethnic group, their Ahobaa festival is a vehicle of economic generation and development of tourism. Ultimately, celebrating the festival with its enchanting spontaneous music making brings unity and improve their quality of life.