The first “Back to Africa” Festival, organized by the Adinkra Group a USA based Diaspora group with support from the Ghana Tourism Authority would be held in October, 2018.
The event forms parts of an aggressive drive to encourage Africans in the Diaspora to visit the country to reconnect with their roots, become citizens and invest in the nation’s prosperity.
This was revealed by The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Mr. Akwasi Agyemang during a stakeholder’s forum held in Accra recently.
The forum aimed at bringing groups of African American citizens back to Ghana, and this initiative was part of the strategies adopted in the Africa Diaspora Heritage trail every year during the celebration of the Black History month in October.
Speaking at the forum was the chief Executive Officer of Adinkra Group – USA, Mr. Diallo Sumbry, “this is the time to talk about a lot of different things in terms of building the bridge between Africans in the Diaspora and Africans on the continent”.
“One of the most powerful elements of the African culture was the arts, the vibrancy of the colours, the variety of the people and the talent and the skills, hence the need to form the group of portray the beauty of Africa” he added.
This year’s event would witness a group from Washington DC, with the backyard band which has rich root of African indigenous music “Gogo” music, which is very much related to Ghanaian music and culture,
“We are doing this in the power of music, arts and culture,” he said. “The Band is coming home, and would be performing around Ghana, to show everyone how the Band is connected to African culture”, Mr. Sumbry added.
The festival is aim about owning the future ad Africans, with other event like PANAFEST, Emancipation Day and the Right to Return Festival, which would be held in December, this year.
Ghana would see a significant growth in the numbers of visitors through the “birth right pilgrimage initiative” which is targeted at African American in Diaspora visiting home, 75 people would be flying in for one week, while the festival would start from February 27th to March 5th, 2018.
The Adinkra group is an African resource company that helps to teach, enrich and show people how to celebrate the different African cultures, in Washignton DC, promote African culture through dances, songs, programmes among other.
Some programmes lined up for the festival are a welcome reception, performance at the Cape Coast Castle, an ancestry reveal through DNA testing, and a jam performance at the Accra Tourist Information Centre.
By: Sheila WILLIAMS
