Damba Festival Hits London

The sons and daughters of all the major ethnic groups in the northern territories of Ghana living in the United Kingdom have come together to use Damba Festival that defines their identity as one people living in different areas to call for peace and unity in their communities under the theme, Peace and Unity: A tool for Development.

The objectives are to sell the northern culture to the international community, introduce Northern/Ghanaian tradition to their children born outside Ghana and bring their community together to give peace a chance. It is going to be the first of its kind in the UK for people from the north of Ghana and believed to draw participants and well wisher from all parts of Europe and other parts of the world.

The official organisers are City Face Limited, an event management company in Tamale, the northern regional capital of Ghana, with a subsidiary office in the UK in conjunction with the northern Ghana community living in the UK. The programme is scheduled for the 8th of September, 2012 and it is expected to showcase a typical northern traditional festive celebration that is characterised by drumming and dancing and a show of traditional regalia featuring the smock prominently.

The move is expected to foster understanding, tolerance and unity among all the descendants of the north of Ghana in the Diaspora and to urge celebrants to preach peace and unity to relatives back home and not only concentrate on financial remittances. It is expected to attract celebrants from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Norway, the United State of America, Ghana and the UK general public.

As tradition goes on, some chiefs will be enskined to stair the affairs of their members in respective communities and solve problems they faced living in foreign land. The Ghana High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland is expected to attend to grace the occasion and deliver a message of hope and prosperity to the festival.

By Abdul-Fatahi Abdulai (UK)

Email: info@cityface.biz