Festivals
Chale Wote: Jamestown’s old streets turned into an open-air gallery
Greater Accra
Chale Wote Street Art Festival
Photo: ThompsonArmah / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
For five days each August, Accra’s historic Jamestown fills with murals, performance and film as the Chale Wote Street Art Festival turns its lanes and lighthouse into Ghana’s biggest contemporary arts event.
Chale Wote was founded in 2011 by Mantse Aryeequaye and Sionne Neely of the ACCRA[dot]ALT collective, together with Redd Kat Pictures. The name comes from the Ga phrase "chalé wote", roughly "friend, let’s go".
For the festival’s five days, Jamestown’s streets, colonial-era buildings and lighthouse become an open-air gallery for murals and graffiti, alongside spoken word, film screenings and performance, drawing crowds reported in the tens of thousands depending on the year.
It differs from every other festival on this list in being contemporary and youth-led rather than built around chieftaincy or traditional rites, and it is the most walkable of any of them since it happens inside Accra itself.
When it happens
When it happens
Exact five-day dates are announced annually, usually mid-to-late August
What to see
- New murals painted directly onto Jamestown’s walls each year
- Performance art, spoken word and film screenings through the old town
- Climbing the Jamestown Lighthouse for a view over the festival
- A younger, more experimental crowd than Ghana’s traditional festivals
Quick facts
- Region
- Greater Accra
- Host area
- Jamestown, Accra
- When
- Late August, around five days
- Founded
- 2011, by the ACCRA[dot]ALT collective
- Character
- Contemporary street art and performance, not a chieftaincy festival
Getting there
- Jamestown is a short Uber or Bolt ride from anywhere in central Accra, or walkable from Osu and the CBD.
- Streets around the festival hub close to cars — arrive on foot or be ready to park some distance out.
- Book accommodation in central Accra rather than Jamestown itself, which has limited lodging.
Get directions
Visitor tips
- Go on a weekend day for the fullest programme — some installations and performances are day-specific.
- Keep an eye on belongings in the crowds, as with any dense street festival.
- Independence Square, Accra
Greater Accra
- Labadi Beach
Greater Accra
