Traditions of Accra
The Ghanaian capital of Ga people, where fantasy coffins, homowo festival and jollof are part of life.
Accra is the capital of Ghana, built on the land of the Ga people. The Ga mark Homowo, a harvest festival of hooting at hunger, with songs and a special meal, kpokpoi. Carpenters in the city make fantasy coffins shaped like fish, cars or onions, honouring the life of the dead.
Homowo and the coffin makers
Homowo, held each August, follows a period of silence and ends with feasting on kpokpoi, steamed corn dough with palm soup, and the sprinkling of food on the ground for the ancestors. The Ga also keep a tradition of naming newborns on the eighth day, called kpodziemo. The fantasy coffin tradition began in the 1950s in Teshie.
At the table
Waakye, rice and beans with spaghetti and stew, is breakfast. Banku and tilapia, kelewele, spiced fried plantain, and light soup are favourites. Shito, a hot black pepper sauce, is on every table. The Ga drink sobolo, a hibiscus beverage. Fried fish, kenkey and waakye are sold from roadside stalls at every hour of the day.
Signature traditions of Accra
Also part of it, and being written: Waakye (The rice and beans dish.), Kelewele (The spicy fried plantain.).
A trail idea for Accra
- Makola Market Buy fabric and spices.
- Jamestown Walk by the lighthouse.
- Teshie coffin workshops See carpenters at work.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, markets and festival dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
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Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Jalsa Salana: Ceddyfresse, Public domain, source
- Homowo: Agbleyjill, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Odwira Festival: Duncanoff, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kizomba: Obe Images, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chale Wote Street Art Festival: Fquasie, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fantasy coffins: Regula Tschumi, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source