Arguably, Ghana is fast becoming a favourite destination to enjoy all the razzmatazz of the Christmas festivities. For many years down the line, the country has become a hotspot and once again it showed during the season just gone past.
The Xmas celebrations, which prominently featured a flood of entertaining activities, mostly started from evening and ended in the wee hours of the mornings, where Dancehall, Afro-pop, Amapiano, Reggae, R&B and Hip-Hop music burst from major beaches to event hubs across the country.
With nonstop beach parties, all-day street festivals and all-night concerts featuring popular foreign and local acts, fashion shows, last year’s Christmas was undoubtedly the fun experience (Detty December) revellers yearned for.
Detty December,’ according to urbandictionary.com, is that time in December when you lose your ‘home training’ and party with all your might to make up for the hard work you've put in from January to November. Themes involve concerts, vacations and parties.
Previous season
During the previous season, some of the well publicised events such as Wizkid Live in Concert, Kizz Daniel Live in Concert, which were anticipated to get party lovers in the festive mood failed to uphold the assignment.
Wizkid “swerved” patrons at the last hour and organisers of Kiss Daniel’s show called off the show a few days to the event, but that didn’t wane the vim of party-goers.
Of course, with the squad of artistes from Ghana and those from beyond, including American rapper Meek Mill, Nigerian stars Tiwa Savage, P Square, and Burna Boy, and homegrown artistes such as Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, Shatta Wale, Kuami Eugene, Medikal, KiDi, Gyakie, and the Lumba Brothers, among others, December in GH last year was certainly a blast.
'Detty December'
The Ghana Tourism Authority approved more than 50 activities for the 'December in GH' celebrations, giving party-goers a wide range of options to choose from.
The curtain-raiser events such as Waakye Party, Rhythms on Da Runway, Bongofest, among others, kicked off the yearly party season for foreigners and locals alike.
The indigenous BHIM Concert, hosted by Bhim President and Dancehall star Stonebwoy, then arrived as soon as merry birds had been well primed to get into the jolly mood. It came off at the Grand Arena of the Accra International Conference Centre on Sunday, December 23, providing party-goers with a fun ambiance that would undoubtedly stick with them till the next one.
Then Ghana's ‘Landlord’-Sarkodie turned the energy up even more with his annual Rapperholic on Sunday, December 25 at the Grand Arena of the Accra International Conference Centre.
Rapperholic turned 10 years old in 2022, and the event's organisers made sure attendees experienced everything that genuinely represented a decade of top-notch entertainment.
On the same December 25, thousands of supporters flocked to the 40,000-capacity Ohene Djan Sports Stadium for Shatta Wale's Freedom Wave Concert to show their support for the Shatta Movement leader, who enjoyed a sizable following across the nation. For revellers, it was a great time.
And there was Promiseland, Detty Rave and of course, Taste of Ghana, Around the World, among others, providing fertile grounds for bouts of ecstatic fun.
Afrochella, Afro Nation
A patron at Afrochella said: "This is my first time attending Afrochella and I must say it has been the nicest Christmas celebration I have ever had and I can't wait for the next edition because I will still travel all the way from Takoradi to Accra just to come and have fun."
Another patron at Afro Nation festival, Desmond Cooke, said: “I think the events’ planners were on top of their game because they gave us the best set design, performance, and performer lineup. I think they still provided us with value for our money even though the celebration was stopped abruptly on the second day."
Regions
The big cities were also not left out as various activities took place there.
The Western regional capital, Takoradi, hosted the annual street carnival, also known as the Ankos Festival.
It was to celebrate the unity and diversity of the people of Sekondi-Takoradi.
This year, the festival attracted hundreds of people from the region as well as domestic and foreign tourists of all ages, especially those who are passionate about the traditions and culture of the country
In Winneba in the Central Region, the people of Afutu also marked their annual masquerades festival, the Winneba Fancy Dress and Masquerades Festival, which equally received high patronage from domestic and foreign tourists.
While December in Ghana has established itself as a staple of the Christmas season, stakeholders believe Accra should not be the centre of most Christmas celebrations.
To transform the face of the celebrations, they are urging the expansion of some of the key events, including the two largest festivals, Afro Nation and Afrochella, to other regions of the country.
Award-winning rapper Sarkodie in a recent interview challenged organisers of December in GH to extend the euphoria of activities during the festive season to other parts of the country.
According to the Adonai hit-maker who was speaking in a video sighted by the Daily Graphic, it was very important to spread the love of the festive season to other parts of the country.
“We should spread the love across Ghana. The celebration is for Ghana and not Accra so we need to be thinking Kumasi, Tamale, and all these places. We need to drag the diasporans to go and see what Ghana is really about,” he said.