Festivals
Damba in Tamale is a horse festival, a durbar and an all-night party
Northern Region
Damba Festival
Photo: Celestinesucess / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The great festival of the Dagbon, Mamprusi and Gonja kingdoms, marked with drumming, dancing and a mounted chiefs’ durbar.
Damba marks the birth of the Prophet Muhammad but has grown into the largest cultural festival in northern Ghana, celebrating the chieftaincy of Dagbon as much as the religious calendar.
The festival runs over several days. Somo Damba on the eleventh day of the lunar month is followed by Naa Damba on the eighteenth, and the climax is the Belkulsi durbar, when chiefs ride out on decorated horses to the sound of lunsi talking drums.
Tamale, Yendi and Karaga all hold their own celebrations. Accommodation fills quickly, so book weeks ahead.
When it happens
When it happens
Follows the Islamic lunar calendar, so the Gregorian date shifts about 11 days earlier each year
What to see
- The mounted chiefs’ durbar and horse displays
- Lunsi talking-drum ensembles
- Night-long dancing in the chief’s palace forecourt
- Smock and hand-woven textile markets around the festival
Quick facts
- Region
- Northern Region
- Main towns
- Tamale, Yendi and Karaga
- When
- Third month of the Islamic lunar calendar
- Duration
- Several days, climaxing in the durbar
- Access
- Public, visitors welcome at the durbar
Getting there
- Fly Accra to Tamale, about seventy minutes, then taxi within the city.
- Yendi is a two-hour drive east of Tamale.
Get directions
Visitor tips
- Book accommodation in Tamale weeks in advance.
- Dress modestly, this is a religious as well as a royal occasion.
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