Paragliding festival to be extended to other regions

Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu Agyare, says the Ministry is working on replicating the annual Kwahu Easter Paragliding Festival in other parts of the nation.

She said the Ministry was working with a group of people from the Volta Region who have started a paragliding festival in the region and would be supporting them this year in that regard.

She said another site in the Northern Region has been inspected by the Ministry adding that “this year when the pilots come, they would go there as technical people to inspect and advise us on whether the site can be used for paragliding”.

The Minister said this at the launch of the 11th Kkwahu Paragliding Festival to be held from Friday 25th to Sunday 27th March, at the Odweanoma Mountains in Kwahu.

The Minister will also host Master Abraham Attah and some of his friends and family at the festival where she will hold discussions with him on a package that will see him become Ghana’s Tourism Ambassador.

Mrs Ofosu Agyare said the young man had made Ghana proud and deserved to be celebrated.

“We are proud of Abraham Attah at Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts and we think that all of us should pamper him and do our best to make sure all he has achieved takes him far,” she said.

This year’s Okwahu Paragliding Festival is expected to be fun-filled with other activities aside paragliding, including tours to the Breast Mountains, Buokuro Rock and Stone City by the Kwahu Tourism Initiative, ludo, draught, oware and scrabble competitions as well as Abseiling packages for mountain –descending and hiking lovers.

The Ghana Dance Ensemble would also perform at the festival for the first time this year and will give interested participants tutorials on some traditional dances.

“Ten seasoned international paragliding tandem pilots from the United States of America, Japan, Peru, France and Belgium are expected in the country to fly passengers during the festival” she said, adding the pilots will also begin training some local pilots this year.

Mrs Ofosu Agyare said the festival was an opportunity to attract both domestic and international tourists and also boost the local economy and urged Ghanaians to participate in the festival, and urged the media, to give it a prominent coverage.

Mr Charles Osei-Bonsu, Acting Executive Director of the Ghana Tourism Authority, lauded the paragliding festival initiative saying it showed the symbiotic relationship between tourism and the environment.

He said the environment could be used for tourism instead of tourism rather destroying the environment.

Bisa Kdei's 'Mansa' was unveiled as the theme song for the 2016 Okwahu Paragliding Festiva