Kente Festival Day Three

We stayed at "Chances Hotel" in Ho. It took us about a thirty minutes to drive from there to Kpetoe, where the Kente Festival was held. We like the Chances Hotel.

Chances Hotel

Entrance to the hotel. We stayed in the bungalows this time as opposed to the more traditional rooms in the three story building behind the bungalows.

Walkway to the bungalow

There are lots of flowers and trees that line the walkways. Six or seven peacocks wander around the beautiful and well-groomed grounds.

All the sisters on the front steps

This picture is taken on the front steps of the home Bishop Sadahem arranged for us to use during the festival. It was right across the street from the large grassy area where the Grand Durbar (think pomp and processional) was held.

All the Elders wore their Kente cloth ties

We ate a meal at this house and Bishop Sadahem had several people come to show us weaving, pottery and beads. Elders Watson, Seader and Wilde are in the front row, behind are Elders Cannon, Bullock, Dever, Pack, Kirkham, Stoker and Smith.

Sisters Pack, Cannon and Wilde making their choices.

Nearly everyone bought something. I found two bracelets that matched my long African dress.

Women shaping pots on the ground.

We enjoyed watching women shape clay pots on the ground. They do these pots without a wheel. They can stay bent over like this for a long time.

Group picture with the pottery women.

The women were so friendly and nice. They demonstrated coiling a piece of cloth to go under the pot so it could be carried on their head, how to tie a baby on your back and answered all of our questions.

They learn this at a young age.

This is a typical African dress. It is very colorful and they often have an extra piece tied around the waist. This can be removed and used to carry a baby or to wrap around their shoulders if they are cold. Sometimes it is worn folded and draped over one shoulder. The white on the edges is the selvedge. The selvedge is not removed or hemmed, it's like it is part of the design.

Adding a helping hand.

This little girl wanted to help. You can see they are a bit nervous. The children are adorable.

The fire

This is an example of the way they set up to fire their pots. They do a lot with so little.

Sister Watson enjoying her drink.

Bishop Sadahem provided fresh watermelon juice for all of us. It was delicious! Later in the day we also had coconut water. We appreciated his thoughtfulness.

The loom requires the use of both hands and feet.

We were also able to see a Kente weaver up close. This weaver set up his loom right by our home- base house. He was doing quite an intricate pattern on this particular piece.

Philippe and Michelle

Philippe Kradolfer and his daughter Michelle, dressed up in their Kente cloth, ready for the Grand Durbar. Michelle also had braids woven into her hair, a very common African style.

A chief coming to the Grand Durbar trying to look like a fierce warrior

The clan chiefs were carried to the Grand Durbar on palanquins. It was like a parade because drummers and a large group of people came with each chief. Some groups had trumpets and some sang. It was exciting and quite regal. They left the Durbar the same way (many hours later). One chief had a young woman on the palanquin with him and she stood up and danced to the music as they left.

Crowds gathered around to see different demonstrations.

Togbe Agbovi IV

Here is Togbe Agbovi IV of Kpetoe in his royal Kente at the Grand Durbar. There are many patterns of Kente.

Togbe Agbovi IV with the missionaries

This picture was taken when we visited Togbe Agbovi IV at his home in Kpetoe. He is in the front row wearing the purple shirt.

Each clan had its own group of drummers and dancers. Sometimes more than one group would be performing at a time on the large field.

Women dancing in a circle

There were many different kinds of costumes for the dancers. Their dances are not very complicated but I found them difficult to do (wrong body type)! The women dance around in a circle. The handkerchiefs were part of the dance and they twirled them around in unison.

Another group of dancers wearing more traditional costumes.

This is a picture of me trying to imitate a woman doing some of their dance moves. We were grateful for the shade canopies. The weather was very warm and sunny.

Enjoying our time at the festival

There was some down time in the festivities but we enjoyed visiting with each other and occasionally wandered around the outside edge where people were selling their crafts.

President Isaac Morrison

President Isaac K. Morrison and his family sat in the same area as the missionaries. Notice that his shirt and her dress are made of the same fabric. This is a very common practice here.




President Morrison, at the time, was president of Tema Stake. It has since been split and he is now president of the Ashaiman Stake. He is a church employee and our office is in the same area as his. He is an amazing leader and contributes much to the Church here in Ghana.

Greeting the Crowds

The royalty of the different clans circled the field, waving to all the spectators as they went.

The procession

The women's wrap dresses are only rolled and tucked. There are no knots to secure them. This is also how they wrap their babies to their backs. No knots!

This cute little girl is learning her duties at a young age.

Honoring the Kente Weaver

As Ghana grows and other cultures influence the traditional customs, the artisans who produce this traditional cloth dwindle. The leaders in Agotime are hopeful that the Kente Festival will help to keep the Kente weaving tradition alive. They are working to make this one of the main tourist attractions and would like Kente to be one of the main identity symbols of Ghana.

Paramount Chief Nene Nuer Keteku III

We have fallen in love with the Volta Region and Ho. It is a beautiful area of Ghana. We are fortunate that we have been able to attend the Kente Festival and become acquainted with some of the traditions and rich heritage of this area.

Kente Festival Day Two

Our second day at the Kente Festival began with breakfast at the Chances Hotel and then off to the Heroes and Heroines Day celebration. This is a time to remember ancestors who died or survived war. Even though we arrived quite early, people were already arriving at the celebration site.

Going to the Festival

Our first glimpse of the people dressed for the Heroes Day celebration.

Our trusty Ford Everest

We parked under the trees of a school yard next to the grassy open area where the celebration was held.

Brother Sadahem and Sister Stoker buying nuts.

Brother Sadahem insisted on buying us some "groundnuts" in a water bottle--one for each couple. Groundnuts are peanuts. It was a mixture of corn nuts and peanuts, quite tasty.

More groups arriving

We arrived early enough to see people arrive. Some with quite a bit of fanfare, others just walking in to take their place.

Carrying the Chief's Stool

This group was small but quite regal, coming in with their drummer beating a rhythm and a woman carrying the Chief's stool on her head.

Setting up the drums

African celebrations have lots of drum music.  Here they are setting up the drums.  Groups also brought their own drums.

I could have sat like these women for maybe two minutes.

Posing with the Chiefs

We had time to get some closeup photos before the ceremonies began. Everyone was very nice about letting us take their pictures.

Wives?

My only complaint was that I wanted to know who people were and what everything meant. These women sat in front of the Chief the entire program.

They looked quite dignified and regal.

Agotime has over 37 towns and villages between Ghana and Togo, each one with a Chief and a Queen known as Nene and Manye respectively.

Queen Mother

I love the gentle smiles on the faces of these women. The Queen Mothers sat separately from the men, the women from their clan sat behind them.

Waiting for the celebration to begin.

Three of the seven wives of the Paramount Chief, Nene Nuer Keteku III.  I wondered how old the youngest wife was. Age is difficult to guess here.

The Chiefs and the Queens carried staffs with decorative symbols on the tops and red fabric ties on them.








The celebration consists of people displaying their heroism as they return from war. They depict the ranks of the military and it is quite a spectacle to behold. The men with their muskets parade around the grounds.  Queens would walk from opposite sides of the field into the center briefly. Homemade cannons were fired, the muskets were fired. War was re-enacted. Occasionally the women would run out on the field waving red handkerchiefs like they were chasing away the enemy.  Dancers danced, drums beat, people sang and yelled.

This young girl sat right next to us. She has her little brother tied on to her back just like the mothers do. At times she would hold him in her lap. She tended her brother during the entire festival. 

We experienced lots of pageantry and vivid colors and sounds.  The people of Agotime and Kpetoe are hoping that this Kente Festival will attract tourists and help with the economy in this area. It keeps alive their traditional dress, customs, dances and music. It is an opportunity to educate their children about their heritage.


We left the festival and went to visit Holey, the Kente weaver in Ho. Many wanted to buy some Kente cloth and I bought a strip to wear with my African dress on saturday.

Kente cloth is woven in strips about 4 1/2 inches wide on a simple wooden loom. These strips are sewn together to make a large piece of fabric or you can wear the strip around your neck or make a table runner out of several.

the lengthwise threads are tied to a rock that keeps them stretched smooth but allows the weaver to roll up the finished cloth as it is finished. Some patterns are quite intricate and take a long time to make.

They work in the open air under the shade of some trees. Holey's home is  on the other side of the brick wall.

Kente cloth comes in all colors and patterns. The yellow, blue and green ones are more traditional.

Children flock to the missionaries and they are fun to interact with. Robert has the full attention of these children as he shows them something on his iPad.

Sister Stoker is showing them the pictures she has taken of them. They are usually very happy and love to ham it up for the camera.

Elder Bullock can keep a group enthralled with his whistles, juggling and by making the "lollipop" popping sound--how else do you describe that?

Elder Dever was the "model" so we could learn how to wear the Kente cloth in the traditional way. It is just draped, not tied or tucked anywhere.







We finished our day by going to Elder and Sister Cosgrave's home for pizza.  They are the MLS couple in Ho and Elder Cosgrave is in the district presidency.  They look after missionaries and keep the district youth program going. Many of the youth in this area do not have parents and the Cosgraves play an important roll in their lives.