Africa is the festival continent, with a rich, eventful, and adventurous past. These festivals reflect history, honor ancestors, and celebrate victories in moving towards a liberated Africa. They offer travelers extraordinary opportunities to witness traditions that have shaped the continent's diverse cultural identities for countless generations.
African drummers performing at a cultural festival.
By approaching these celebrations with respectful curiosity and cultural awareness, you'll discover that African festivals provide some of the most profound and memorable travel experiences available anywhere in the world. African festivals celebrate ancestral connections, musical heritage, and vibrant communal gatherings.
Africa Liberation Day
Africa Liberation Day is celebrated annually on May 25th by various countries on the African continent, Europe, the Caribbean, Asia, and the United States. On May 24, 1963, during the formation of the Organization of African Unity summit, Kwame Nkrumah stated, "We all want a united Africa, united not only in our concept of what unity connotes but united in our common desire to move forward together in dealing with all the problems that can best be solved only on a continental basis."
Initially declared “Africa Freedom Day” on April 15, 1958, after Kwame Nkrumah held the First Conference of Independent States in Accra, Ghana, it was moved to May 25th 1965 by Emperor Haile Selassie, utilizing the day the historic Charter of the Organization of African Unity as Africa Liberation Day.
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West Africa: A Hotbed of Tradition
Based on long experience and travels, the continent hosts some of the most spectacular celebrations, particularly in Central and Western Africa. It’s here, where there are far fewer tourists and where countries are far less modernised and westernised than other African counterparts in the East or South, that traditions are still deeply entrenched and followed, giving a more authentic and more intact cultural encounter. For the traveller willing to go further of the beaten track than most, you’ll be rewarded by an intimate and unforgettable experience, where we are invited to respectfully witness and share what is undoubtedly the highlight of the community calendar. Travelling through Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Benin, Cameroon, Gabon and Chad, here’s what we think are some of the most fascinating and exciting ceremonies and festivals in Africa.
Ouidah Voodoo Festival, Benin
The Ouidah Voodoo Festival in Benin, held every January, is a national holiday. It includes traditional dance and animal sacrifices at shrines, with some devotees entering trance states. For the people of Benin, it has the legitimacy of any other belief system, hence its status as their official religion. In essence, voodoo is the belief that everything is spirit, including humans.
A Voodoo Priest at the Ouidah Festival. Source
Zaouli Masked Dances, Ivory Coast
The Zaouli mask dance, often performed at celebrations and funerals of the Guro communities, is one of the most intriguing and unusual festivals in Africa. The dance is only ever performed by men and takes up to seven years to perfect by each Zaouli dancer. On donning the mask, the dancer keeps his body completely still whilst his legs dance, with no two moves the same.
Ashanti Funeral, Ghana
An Ashanti Funeral is a flamboyant and elaborate celebration of life. Outsiders are welcome to respectably witness proceedings, where red and black-clad mourners perform dances to the beat of the drum, and feast, all observed by Ashanti chiefs who look on under huge, decorated umbrellas.
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Dipo Initiation Ceremony, Ghana
The Dipo Initiation ceremony, performed every April by the Krobo ethnic group, marks the transition from childhood to womanhood. Here, the newly initiated women, heads shaven and clad in beautiful African beads, perform, dancing to the drumbeat in front of young men of marriageable age.
Hogbetsotso Festival, Ghana
This is celebrated on the first Saturday of November every year by the Anlo Ewes of the Volta Region of Ghana. The essential feature of this festival is a magnificent durbar of chiefs and citizens. Hogbetsotso, generally known as "the festival of the Exodus" is held annually to commemorate the escape of the Anlo Ewes from the tyrannical ruler of Notsie - Agokoli of Togo. The chiefs appear on the durbar grounds in their most charming royal regalia and sit in state to acknowledge and receive homage from their subjects.
Festima mask festival
The extraordinary Festima mask festival which takes place every two years. People from around forty different villages attend, bringing their own styles of masks, and mask dances take place throughout the day. The costumes range from simple affairs to full body outfits made from grass, with masks up to two metres long perched on the heads of the performers.
Homowo festival, Ghana
The word "Homowo" actually means 'making fun of hunger.' Our traditional oral history describes a time long ago when the rains stopped and the sea closed its gates. A deadly famine spread throughout the southern Accra Plains, the home of the Ga people.
Other Notable Festivals
Here's a look at some other festivals and cultural events across the African continent:
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- GIMC (Botswana): A multi-discipline event that celebrates Gaborone City and its residents. It showcases cultural celebrations, comedy, poetry, music festival, fashion, and Jazz.
- Maralal International Camel Derby (Kenya): Camel racers engage in the excitement and chaos of aiming for the victory prize, the town also comes alive with the best of Samburu culture like traditional music and dance, food, artworks, and a host of others.
- Bayimba International Festival of Music and Arts (Uganda): Traditional Music, Contemporary beats, dance, theatre, and arts all coalesce this August at the 17th edition of the Bayimba International Festival of Music and Arts in Uganda.
- Kwita Izina Ceremony (Rwanda): Following that same culture, the Kwita Izine ceremony which is also the Kinyarwanda term for name giving is the annual Gorilla naming ceremony where new baby mountain Gorillas are named.
- Meskel Festival (Ethiopia): Celebrated on the 27th of September, the Meskel Festival marks the finding of the true cross upon which Jesus Christ was crucified by Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine.
- Tobong’u Lore or The Lake Turkana Cultural Festival (Kenya): “Welcome Back Home” (Tobong’u Lore) is an annual event of the Turkana County in Kenya. Highlights of the festival are fashion shows, traditional music and drinks, local food and cuisine, sports and games, exhibitions, and handicrafts.
- Mombasa Carnival (Kenya): The Mombasa carnival features parades and floats from every conceivable cultural, national and religious group in Kenya.
- Banjul Cultural Festival (The Gambia): the Banjul Cultural Festival is a local celebration that features a colourful parade of masquerades through the streets of the capital city. Over time it has become a festival that brings to light the uniqueness of the Gambia’s cultural heritage.
- International Festival of the Sahara (Tunisia): The four-day celebration is a traditional festivity that provides insight into the Bedouin culture.
Many festivals include thrilling durbars of chiefs, when tribal leaders and Queen Mothers process in decorated palanquins, shaded by the traditional umbrellas, and supported by drummers and warriors discharging ancient muskets.
Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called Karamu, usually on the sixth day. It was created by activist Maulana Karenga based on African harvest festival traditions from various parts of West, East, as well as Southeast Africa. Kwanzaa was first celebrated in 1966.
According to Karenga, the name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning "first fruits". During the early years of Kwanzaa, Karenga said it was meant to be an alternative to Christmas. Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder called the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba - the seven principles of African Heritage). These seven principles are all Swahili words, and together comprise the Kawaida or "common" philosophy, a synthesis of nationalist, pan-Africanist, and socialist values.
Families celebrating Kwanzaa decorate their households with objects of art, colorful African cloth such as kente, especially the wearing of kaftans by women, and fresh fruits representing African idealism. It is customary to include children in Kwanzaa ceremonies and to give respect and gratitude to ancestors.
Here are the seven principles of Kwanzaa:
- Umoja (Unity): To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
- Kujichagulia (Self-determination): To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
- Ujima (Collective Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems and to solve them together.
- Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit together from them.
- Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
- Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
- Imani (Faith): To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, and our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
The first Kwanzaa stamp, designed by Synthia Saint James, was issued by the United States Post Office in 1997, and in the same year Bill Clinton gave the first presidential declaration marking the holiday.
