HOMOWO FESTIVAL

Homowo is a traditional festival celebrated by the Ga people of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. This tradition begins in May, when the traditional priest sow maize. During thirty day after sowing the maize, there is ban on drumming and music imposed on the land by the priest.
Homowo, A severe famine broke out when the rain stopped in the plains, the home of the Ga people. They were inspired by the famine to embark on physical as well as spiritual journey for food, which eventually yielded them with abundance of food. Their hunger ended when the rain came and, this led them to celebrate this memorable occasion every year as part of their tradition, by ridiculing hunger.
The traditional food is called kpokpoi. It is prepared with maize, palm oil, palm nuts, smoked fish and other ingredients. The maize is ground into a flour and later added to water for a day of fermentation. It is cooked by steaming it, and mixed with palm oil.
A palm soup is prepared in a big pot, with smoked fish, tomatoes, peppers, palm nuts and other ingredients. This soup can be eaten with any food on any day, but often is eaten with kpokpoi during the festival.
The food is long process to cook, so usually families wake up early in the morning to start cooking so by noon the food is done. Family and friends gather together to eat, drink and have lots of fun.
In the evening most people gather at the traditional priest’s palace, to honor the festival. The priest will call the gods by pouring libation. Food is thrown in the same manner in order to alleviate the ancestors of the hunger that they experienced during the famine.
A famine is not anything that you can joke with, it is a tragic time when the ancestors of Ga people experienced a severed hunger. But, to be able to ridiculed it, and make merry after, shows that the Ga people can overcome all obstacles.