Emily and I were frustrated. The map had led us to the exact spot where the bookstore was supposed to be and yet, even as we traipsed from corner to corner of the intersection, we could not find it. We attempted to ask fellow pedestrians, but everybody was in too much of a hurry to answer. We watched as people headed down the street away from us, into a small cul-de-sac a few blocks away from the mysterious bookstore.

Curiosity gave in, and the bookstore was forgotten, we followed the masses down the road. We stood out like a sore thumb, utterly confused and amazed at the scene that ensued. Everybody was dressed in red and black and there seemed to be a lot of tension in the air. All of a sudden, a shotgun went off by my ear–a man starting running down the street with a basket on his head. The crowds chased him, yelling and whooping wildly.

It turns out that this was the beginning of the Homowo Festival. This is the main festival of the Ga people in Ghana. It actually begins in May, with the sowing of grains and millet. It is celebrated to remember the famine that occurred to the Ga people in pre-colonial Ghana and the word Homowo meets to jeer at hunger.

This particular event is called Osu Dade and precedes the actual Homowo festival for people that live in the Osu neighborhood of Accra. One reveler told Emily and me that the god of Osu must run and roam in order to make other gods happy. Dr. Ofori Parku, a professor at the University of Oregon, confirms this, saying that the Ga people exclaim “‘Osu Dade Foshie,’ implying the gods of Osu must roam before the celebration of the homowo… to pacify all other gods in the community.”

Below are the photos of this amazing festival.