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Homowo is a harvest festival celebrated by the Ga people of Ghana in the Greater Accra Region. The festival starts in the month of August with the planting of crops (mainly maize and yam) before the rainy season starts. During the festival, they perform a dance called Kpanlogo. The Ga people celebrate Homowo in the remembrance of the famine that once happened in their history in precolonial Ghana.^[1]

Etymology

The word Homowo (Homo - hunger, wo - hoot) can mean "to hoot (or jeer) at hunger" in the Ga language.^[2] The tradition of Homowo started with a period of hunger leading to famine due to failure of the seasonal rains needed by crops in the Greater Accra Region, where the Ga people dwell. When the rains returned to normal, the Ga people celebrated it by creating the Homowo festival, hence its name and meaning.

Celebration/Observance

Homowo is greatly celebrated in all the towns in the Ga state with celebrations climaxing in Gamashie. Prior to the actual celebration of the festival, Nmaadumo, a sowing rite of wheat takes place to mark the beginning of the Ga Calendar and the celebrations that occur within it. Nmaa or Millet is sown by the seven priests of the Gamashie people who perform Shibaa, the right of digging.^[3]During this period, noise making is prohibited or banned since it is believed that it will hinder the maturity of the crop. The meal is eaten with Palm Nut Soup and it is also sprinkled within the town. This is normally done by traditional leaders and family heads. All family heads sprinkle the "kpokpoi" in their family house. Celebration includes marching down roads and streets beating drums, chanting, merrymaking face painting, singing and traditional dances. On this day there is usually a lot of traffic and roads are usually blocked off to accommodate the festival. Even though it is a Ga tradition, many other ethnic groups are welcomed to also join in the celebration.^[4]^{[citation needed]}

Some of the towns that celebrate Homowo are La, Teshie, Teshie Nungua,^[5] Osu, Ga-Mashie, Tema, Prampram, and Ningo.

Gallery

The Ga people celebrate Homowo Festival in the remembrance of the famine that once happened in their history in precolonial Ghana
Homowo Festival
Homowo Festival
Homowo Festival
Homowo Festival
Homowo Festival Palm nut Soup

References

^ "Homowo Festival". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
^ The Library of Congress's article on Homowo. Retrieved 08 September 07
^ Ammah, Charles (1968). Ga Homowo. Accra, Ghana: Advance Accra. pp. 11–13.
^ "Homowo Festival". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
^ "Homowo: Significance of holy corn, feeding gods of Ga state". Graphic Online. Retrieved 2021-05-16.

External links

Media related to Homowo at Wikimedia Commons
Promoting and celebrating Homowo with Obo Addy

[1] "Homowo Festival". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 2020-01-11.

[roots-2] The Library of Congress's article on Homowo. Retrieved 08 September 07

[3] Ammah, Charles (1968). Ga Homowo. Accra, Ghana: Advance Accra. pp. 11–13.

[4] "Homowo Festival". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 2022-02-04.

[5] "Homowo: Significance of holy corn, feeding gods of Ga state". Graphic Online. Retrieved 2021-05-16.

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 == Celebration/Observance ==
-Homowo is greatly celebrated in all the towns in the Ga state with celebrations climaxing in [[Ga-Mashie|Gamashie]]. The celebration begins with the planting of maize, which will be used in preparing the food for the festival named [[Kpekpele|''Kpokpoi'' or ''Kpekple'']]. During this period, noise making is prohibited or banned since it is believed that it will hinder the maturity of the crop. The meal is eaten with [[Palm Nut Soup]] and it is also sprinkled within the town. This is normally done by traditional leaders and family heads. All family heads sprinkle the "kpokpoi" in their family house. Celebration includes marching down roads and streets beating drums, chanting, merrymaking  face painting, singing and traditional dances. On this day there is usually a lot of traffic and roads are usually blocked off to accommodate the festival. Even though it is a Ga tradition, many other ethnic groups are welcomed to also join in the celebration.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Homowo Festival|url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/tribes/homowo_festival.php|access-date=2022-02-04|website=www.ghanaweb.com}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
+Homowo is greatly celebrated in all the towns in the Ga state with celebrations climaxing in [[Ga-Mashie|Gamashie]]. Prior to the actual celebration of the festival, Nmaadumo, a sowing rite of wheat takes place to mark the beginning of the Ga Calendar and the celebrations that occur within it. Nmaa or Millet is sown by the seven priests of the [[Ga-Mashie|Gamashie]] people who perform Shibaa, the right of digging.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ammah |first=Charles |title=Ga Homowo |publisher=Advance Accra |year=1968 |location=Accra, Ghana |pages=11-13}}</ref>During this period, noise making is prohibited or banned since it is believed that it will hinder the maturity of the crop. The meal is eaten with [[Palm Nut Soup]] and it is also sprinkled within the town. This is normally done by traditional leaders and family heads. All family heads sprinkle the "kpokpoi" in their family house. Celebration includes marching down roads and streets beating drums, chanting, merrymaking  face painting, singing and traditional dances. On this day there is usually a lot of traffic and roads are usually blocked off to accommodate the festival. Even though it is a Ga tradition, many other ethnic groups are welcomed to also join in the celebration.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Homowo Festival|url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/tribes/homowo_festival.php|access-date=2022-02-04|website=www.ghanaweb.com}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
 Some of the towns that celebrate Homowo are La, [[Teshie]], [[Teshie-Nungua|Teshie Nungua]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Homowo: Significance of holy corn, feeding gods of Ga state|url=https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/homowo-significance-of-holy-corn-feeding-gods-of-ga-state.html|access-date=2021-05-16|website=Graphic Online|language=en-gb}}</ref> [[Osu, Accra|Osu]], [[Ga-Mashie]], [[Tema]], [[Prampram]], and [[Old Ningo|Ningo]].