Cape Coast-Ghana, Dec 10, GNA – Feverish preparations are underway at the Adisadel School Park in Cape Coast in readiness for the official opening of this year’s National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC) on Saturday.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is expected to open the festival at a colourful durbar of chiefs and people from all 16 regions of the country.
Activities for the weeklong biennial festival have already commenced with a float with masqueraders, students, agencies, individuals among others through some principal streets of the historic city.
This year’s celebration which also marks the 60th anniversary of the festival is on the theme: “Reviving Patriotism, Peace and Unity through Cultural Diversity for Sustainable Development”.
Tents and exhibition booths for some 150 expected exhibitors were being mounted and registration was ongoing when the Ghana News Agency (GNA) arrived at the event grounds.
A few exhibitors had already arrived and were making frantic efforts to secure their allocated booths, it was observed.
Facilities such as mobile toilets and waste bins had also been positioned at vantage points within the perimeters of the park.
Nana Otuo Owoahene Acheampong, Head of Exhibition, National Planning Committee of NAFAC, told GNA that exhibition booths had been designated for all 16 Regional Centres for National Culture (CNC) to showcase their cultural peculiarities including local foods and local drinks.
He said as the host region, all 22 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies of the Central Region would also be given special booths to sell their culture and heritage.
He added that there were also booths for general vendors to make sales and noted at the time of the interaction that about 50 of such vendors had already registered.
“We are heading towards Christmas and so there is December in Cape Coast. There will be every product here for people to patronise,” he said.
Nana Acheampong further intimated that they would establish a farmers’ market alongside the festival to create a direct interface between farmers and buyers who would buy and sell at farm gate prices.
“Beyond the farmers’ market, other agencies under the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture, the Central Regional Coordinating Council and the AIDS Commission among others will also have booths to operate,” he said.
“We hope that latest by 16:00 hours, this place should be set for all exhibitors to come in to have their things set up,” he added.
A food vendor, Madam Cynthia Ayensu, even though not happy with the late preparations, was hopeful to make good sales at the end of the festival.
“We are excited that they have brought the festival here. With our recent drop in sales, this is exactly what we needed, and it has come at the right time. We pray to make some good profit,” a khebab seller, Mr Jacob Amoah, added.
