Apoo festival

The tradition & historical record

The Apoo Festival is a festival celebrated annually in western Ghana (specifically the towns of Techiman and Wenchi), lasting a week in March and April. The festival is meant to ritually purify the people of social evils, as well as uniting people and families, and includes a variety of other traditional cultural activities. The word 'apoo' comes from the root word 'po', meaning 'to reject.' The festival is heavily associated with the Bono people. Not only is it held in Techiman, one of the most important cities to the Bono people and kingdom, insults, proverbs, maxims, songs, and historical recountings of the Bono Kingdom are exchanged during the titular Apoo procession; many of these insults, proverbs, and songs are directed towards the Ashanti, who conquered the Bono Empire. ¹

Oral tradition holds that the festival began under the reign of Nana Kwakye Ameyaw; he was an authoritarian leader, and the people of Techniman subsequently could not freely express their views. Since they couldn't hold the authorities accountable, they consulted the local gods. They were asked to set aside some of their days to go out and express their sentiments, especially towards the authorities. During this period, it was agreed that one couldn't be held responsible for what he or she said, regardless of status. The people would say “Mereko po me haw”, which literally meant “I am going to say what was on my chest”, and this was how the “Apoo” festival came to be. ¹

It's believed that through the airing of grievances and grudges, the people and their souls are ritually purified of evil. In preparation for the Apoo festival and this purification, women will clean homes, utensils, and roads to avoid such evils from returning. Priests in the area will also parade the streets before the festival to spiritually destroy malicious charms hidden by evil spirits; this process is called 'Nnusin-tuo.' Another important preliminary tradition is 'Hyereko', literally meaning 'the collection of white clay.' White clay is collected by women from the Aponkosu River and is used to decorate the local shrines before the Apoo festival begins. Priests and priestesses will also use the clay on their bodies when being possessed by/communing with the spirits. Drums are beaten to alert people of the festival's beginning. The Apoo procession is led by the Paramount Chief, village elders, secondary chiefs, and court. During the 'Apoo' procession, grievances are aired and insinuations are cast on the wrongdoings of others. Even the chief is not exempt from this disparagement. People are encouraged to settle family feuds during this time, and it is a time for reconciliation. Early in the festival, the procession goes to the grave of the last Bonohene, the traditional leader of the Bono people. The Paramount Chief and village elders congregate around the grave as the Chief offers up sheep and pours libations. The rest of the procession remains outside until the rites are complete. The 'banmuhene', custodian of the Royal Graveyard, prepares a dish of oiled, mashed-up yam, seasoned with condiments called 'eto'; this dish is then offered to the ancestral spirits. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Apoo festival”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Apoo festival is festival celebrated annually in Ghana by the chiefs and people of Techiman and its environs in March and April to get rid of social evil, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. ²