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| Feok festival is celebrated by the Bulsa to thank the ancestors and God for a good harvest season and to remember the victory chalked by the ancestors over notorious slave raiders in the past. |
Personally, I have no qualms with anyone trying to exhibit a part of our cultural heritage anywhere in the world to help create awareness. However, to label it "Builsa Feok - Accra chapter", is utterly wrong and disappointing. If the Feok festival can be celebrated anywhere by a few people anywhere, what other reason would make Bulsa want to travel long distances just to get home and observe the Feok festival? This is not personal. This is about Buluk! It is about our culture, our future, and our heritage. It is a developmental issue. Why should anyone try to export this tourist attraction to another land?
There is already a complex situation at home with every community rising to celebrate Feok after the main occasion. We are still battling to bring this under control. An Accra Feok will only make this sectionalism even more difficult to bring under control. If this goes through, let's not be surprised if we wake up to a Kumasi Feok, Ho Feok, Cape Coast Feok, Koforidua Feok, Bolga Feok, Tamale Feok, etc.
In the end, we will have "logta" and "zuchaasa" without meanings to them except to decorate ourselves. And the late Aligfuubi Azangtinlo will never forgive us for gambling with his legacy just to satisfy a personal interest.
I think u are right. What if all others get up to do their own Feok? What then do we make of the main event?
ReplyDeleteThanks for reasoning with me bro.
DeleteNobody celebrated feok yesterday in Accra. What we celebrated was a gathering to showcase bulsa culture. The title used was Builsa Cultural Festival 2019. Do all intend and purpose. Every tribe I know: Gonjas, Dagombas, Mumprusis in Accra celebrate their festivals in Accra anually so why not Builsas. If we think the festival back home is loosing appetite let's go back and see what caused it and not attack innovation and creativity in the name of heritage.
ReplyDeleteThis article was written in 2018. I guess you have been to celebrations of the Gonjas, Dagombas, Mamprusis and so on, and I hope you have seen them transporting everything that has to do with their festivals from their hometowns to Accra to celebrate, right? For your information, nobody is against promotion of Buluk culture but the wholesale manner it is done. It can create apathy for people and other foreigners from attending the Feok festival.
DeleteI STRONGLY AGREE WITH YOU. I CAN'T THINK THROUGH WHY THIS IS HAPPENING. THE OCCASION THAT UNITES FAMILIES OF THE LAND THAT HAVE NOT MET FOR SO LONG IS BEING DESTROYED. NOW NO NEED TO GO HOME IN THE NAME OF FEOK FESTIVAL. VERY SAD. SOME EVEN WANT TO RENAME IT BUILSA CULTURE. BUT THE QUESTION IS, DOES OUR PARAMOUNT CHIEF CONSENT TO THIS IDEA. DOES HE PARTICIPATE IN PERSON OR SEND DELEGATES. IF THE ANSWER IS IN THE AFFIRMATIVE THEN I HAVE NOTHING MUCH TO SAY SINCE HE IS THE CUSTODIAN OF BULUK CULTURE AND SHOULD KNOW BETTER.
ReplyDeleteThanks bro. Some people are intentionally trying not to understand what some of us are standing against.
DeleteVery well said my brother. The threat of political infiltration makes it worse. If this is not quelled or done properly, politicians will hijack the festival.
ReplyDeleteThanks bro. The threat of political takeover of Feok is real and some of us cannot just sit down for some few selfish individuals to throw a legacy to the dogs.
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