The Kundum festival is celebrated by the Ahanta and Nzema people of the Western region of Ghana. It is celebrated to thank God for the abundance of food at the time of the harvest period of the area.
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The Kundum festival is celebrated by the Ahanta and Nzema people of the Western region of Ghana.
01 · What it is
Food
Shared culinary preparation, seasonal ingredients, and community foodways.
02 · Where & name
Ghana
Placed on record in Ghana.
03 · How it is doing
□□□□ (Not yet assessed)
Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.
04 · Proof & reuse
2 cited sources
Every claim links to a public record below. Free to quote, teach, and share under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Chapter Takeaways
HistoryOne of the earliest written records of the festival was made by Bosman, a Dutch explorer who traveled to the Gold Coast in the 17th century and observed the festival.
OriginAccording to oral history and folklore, the festival began when a hunter, Akpoley, during an expedition, chanced upon some dwarves dancing in a circle.
Festival typeKundum is both a harvest and religious festival.
The celebrationThe festival lasts for four weeks, but for the first three weeks most activity, particularly drumming and dancing only takes place at night and on the outskirts of the towns at a place known as Siedu or Sienu.
Common Questions Answered on Record
What is Kundum Festival in plain words?
The Kundum festival is celebrated by the Ahanta and Nzema people of the Western region of Ghana.
Where is Kundum Festival practised or documented?
Sources on this page place Kundum Festival in Ghana.
What is the current condition of Kundum Festival today?
□□□□ (Not yet assessed): Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.
How do I cite or share this Kundum Festival entry?
Cite as: "Kundum Festival." folkroom, https://folkroom.org/art-forms/kundum-festival, text CC BY-SA, with attribution.
The Kundum festival is celebrated by the Ahanta and Nzema people of the Western region of Ghana. It is celebrated to thank God for the abundance of food at the time of the harvest period of the area. 1
History
One of the earliest written records of the festival was made by Bosman, a Dutch explorer who traveled to the Gold Coast in the 17th century and observed the festival. 1
Origin
According to oral history and folklore, the festival began when a hunter, Akpoley, during an expedition, chanced upon some dwarves dancing in a circle. After observing the dance, he returned to his town and introduced it to his people. The ritual dancing is associated with expelling the devil and evil spirits from towns and villages. During the festival, the dance is performed by most inhabitants of Axim and surrounding towns. It comes from the Nzema people and subsequently graduated to the Ahantas in the Western region of Ghana. 1
Festival type
Kundum is both a harvest and religious festival. The start of the festival is based on the day the fruit of a certain palm tree became ripe. 1
The celebration
The festival lasts for four weeks, but for the first three weeks most activity, particularly drumming and dancing only takes place at night and on the outskirts of the towns at a place known as Siedu or Sienu. The festivals occur separately in each town that make up the Ahanta and Nzema paramountcy. The towns each schedule independently on which Sunday their local festival will start.
The celebration consists of three main components: 1
dancing
drumming
feast 1
Festival attire
The people who participate in the celebration wear distinctive dress, footwear, and sometimes masks. The festival begins by musicians taking the drums to the five different shrines on outskirts of town. At the shrines, requests for the good of the town made, and rum is poured on the ground as libation. 1
The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Kundum Festival”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. 1
Kundum Festival is festival of the people of Nzema and Ahanta, 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 2 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. 2