The Homowo Festival

"If you die during this period it is believed that your death is a curse to the land."

           -Eric Adjetey Anang

The origins of the Teshie people are from the Ga's, a tribe from Ilefe, Nigeria.  Upon arrival of the Ga's there was a great famine, so it is believed that the Ga's managed to harvest a lot of maize and fish from the sea which were used to prepare a dish known as kpokpoi.  A feast of the kpokpoi followed which started the tradition of the Homowo festival.  

Teshie celebrates the Homowo festival starting the second week of August and lasts until the second week of September.  Homowo means "hooting at hunger".  The week prior to Homowo festival a ritual called nshobulemo occurs, which is when the Teshie fishermen ask the gods to bless them with more fish during the month of the festival.  On the second monday of August a ban is placed on all noisemaking, drumming, dancing and any burying of corpses.  This opening ceremony called gbemliliaa, marks the official start of the Homowo festival.   The following Tuesday night the chief priest walks through the main roads three times with incense to announce the start of the Homowo festival to the gods and ancestors.  

ABOVE: The chief priest of Teshie

The second week of the festival which is the last week of August there are a number of rituals which occur throughout the week. On Monday the people celebrate Homowohae, which is when villages surrounding Teshie come into the city for merry making and drinking.  On Tuesday everyone gathers at their respective family houses and prepares kpokpoi.  Each family has a feast called gonwala during which each family member pays respect to the eldest of the house and asks for blessings and a long life for the years to come.   On friday their is a calling for past ancestors by the pouring of Schnapps on the ground.  On Saturday there is a charity march between Teshie and the neighboring town of Nungua.   Sunday marks the main event of Homowo, a huge festival called hpanshimoo.   During hpanshimoo, the seven clans of Teshie (Ananse, Korleworko, Tafoyefo, Greece, Six, Jah Labour, and Mind You) carry their family flags throughout the town.  

On the eve of the next friday, the people of Teshie go to the neighboring town of Labadi, which is where the Teshie peoples lineage come from.  At 12 o'clock the ban on noisemaking is lifted and the people of Teshie announce to Labadi that they are finished with the festival.  On Saturday, the last hpanshimoo takes place with lots of noise making, dancing and a street carnival.  The chief priest carries the sese, a large spiritual bowl which contains water.  The people of Teshie put money into the bowl in order to have some of the water sprinkled on them so that they may have good luck and that their wishes may come true.  The sese is carried to a shrine by the sea where it is emptied, thus marking the official end of the Homowo festival.