By Emmanuel Adu Gyamfi Odopa ( gyamemma5@gmail.com)
The chief and elders of Atomfourso near Seikwa in the Tain District of Bono Region of Ghana, has announced a month ban on drumming and noisemaking in the community as it prepares for this year’s Akyiriwia Festival.
A statement issued from the office of the chief of Atomfourso, Nana Ekye Nsowah-Adjei said the ban remains in force from the 6th of May to the 6th of June 2019.
AKYIRIWIA FESTIVAL
The month long Festival is observed exclusively by the people of Atomfourso to pray for a peaceful and prosperous end of year and also usher the people into another prosperous year to come.
During the month, drumming and all forms of noisemaking is banned, while funerals are also withheld. No libation is poured because it is believed the ancestors are in the fasting mood and interceding for the living.
The chief and the sub chiefs do not attend funerals, and enter the stool house two weeks into the month. The drumming and noise making is lifted a day before the new moon is seen . In the evening , the fontomfrom drum is beaten while water is given at the stool house to break the fasting. A cultural drumming known as Dagwanda is played to herald and mark the end of the month long ban.
The next morning, fowls are slaughtered at the stool house to prepare food for the ancestors while the elders eat together and followed by a durbar to
interact with the people.
Fundraising and other activities are organized to mark the festival.
The statement later admonishes all and sundry to comply and also cooperate with the old existing tradition of the chiefs and people of Atomfourso to make the festival a peaceful and successful.
Source: http://eveningmailgh.com
