The Agwagwa Festival: a traditional Ghanaian cultural event to discover young talents

The Agwagwa Festival is commemorated by the people of Kwahu Obemeng in the Eastern Region of Ghana. It has a long history of celebrations of one hundred and twenty-five years! The whole concept of the event originated in the ingenuity of its first ancestors to improvise a hand truck that could travel within the spaces of the cacao farms, transporting the coca growers from one place to another on their farms. It was also used by the little ones as a means of entertainment while riding them after a stressful day of farming. The festival’s name ‘Agwagwa’ was derived from the sound of the traditional makeshift wheelbarrow when it moved.

The improvised wheelbarrow device was traditionally produced from the large, hard seeds of the local plant called the Gyatofoa tree, which was very common in the Kwahu Obemeng territories in eastern Ghana. Long, flat beams were placed over the large, hard seeds of the tree that served as tires for the moving wheelbarrow. When he sat down, others manually pulled him out from the back. It could move from the high mountains and hills while landing on lower shores. Nowadays, due to the advancement of technology, ball bearings that have been well cushioned are used as tires for the hand truck. Interestingly, young people in society have been given the freedom to experiment and provide interesting mobile carts in various designs and with whatever materials they could find. This has become an annual youth competition each time the Agwagwa festival is commemorated during the first month of each year.

The annual competition has been a way to find talented, creative and brilliant young members in the Eastern Region of Ghana who may not have received any form of formal education as a result of their poverty status. The festival helps draw public attention to these young geniuses so that well-meaning members of society, philanthropists, funding agencies and youth aid agencies can come to their aid. Many fortunate and talented young people have obtained these privileges and, as such, have had access to formal education to hone their great skills and talents. The excellent and unique designs of the carts produced by the young people could be further developed into very interesting transport machines. The festival is a traditional event to prepare young people who would have wasted their talents due to poverty. Due to the festival, many of these young people can now have their wish fulfilled by becoming future engineers and product designers for leading engineering firms.

The Agwagwa traditional festival receives very little support from funding agencies and companies. This is because many people and agencies do not know about it due to bad publicity and public awareness. Therefore, the tourism industry, youth development initiatives and groups, funding agencies, and well-intentioned individuals should seek ways to support the main and traditional Kwahu Obemeng council while planning and celebrating the festival effectively. This important support and collaboration would help to use the festival to fulfill its main function, which is to search for young talents and help them to be great engineers and designers for national and global development.