Festivals
Odwira: the Akuapem festival that opens the new yam harvest
Eastern Region
Odwira
Photo: Duncanoff / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
A week of purification and thanksgiving in the hill town of Akropong, Odwira cleans the ancestral stools of the Akuapem state and formally releases the new yam crop for eating.
Odwira, meaning purification, was instituted in 1826 by Nana Addo Dankwa I to mark the Akuapem state’s victory at the Battle of Katamansu and to give thanks for it. It has since grown into the Akuapem traditional area’s major annual observance.
The early days of the festival are restricted, ceremonial rites: ancestral stools are cleansed and honoured, and by custom no one eats from the new yam harvest until the festival formally releases it. The week builds to a grand durbar, with Akuapem chiefs appearing in full kente and gold regalia alongside drumming and dancing.
Akropong sits in the cool Akuapem hills north of Accra, and the open durbar is the part visitors can attend — the earlier ritual days are local, ceremonial occasions rather than a public spectacle.
When it happens
When it happens
Exact dates are set annually by the Okuapeman traditional council
What to see
- The grand durbar of Akuapem chiefs in full kente and gold regalia
- Drumming, dancing and praise-singing specific to the Akuapem state
- The ceremonial release of the new yam harvest
- The hill-town setting of Akropong itself, cooler and greener than the coast
Quick facts
- Region
- Eastern Region
- Host town
- Akropong-Akuapem, with related events at Aburi, Larteh and Mamfe
- When
- Late September into October
- Who celebrates
- The Akuapem traditional state
- Origin
- Instituted in 1826 to mark victory at the Battle of Katamansu
Getting there
- Akropong is around an hour north of Accra, up into the Akuapem hills past Aburi.
- Shared taxis run from Accra’s Tema Station to Akropong via Aburi.
- Easy to combine with a stop at Aburi Botanical Gardens on the way up.
Get directions
Visitor tips
- The durbar day draws the biggest crowds; earlier ritual days are local occasions, not visitor spectacles.
- New yam dishes appear on menus around the region once the festival releases the harvest — worth timing a food stop around it.
- Aburi Botanical Gardens
Eastern Region
- Independence Square, Accra
Greater Accra
