Feok Festival 2018 Review: The Ups, The Downs and The 'Ugly Monster'

The 2018 edition of the Feok festival came off successfully and was highly patronized. In fact, this was the most patronized of all Feok festival celebrations in recent times. This patronage can partly be attributed to the attendance by the first gentleman of Ghana, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the accompanying advertisement. However, a few observations were made from the 2018 Feok festival celebrations some of which are highlighted below.

First of all, much praise must be given to the Feok Festival Planning Committee (FFPC) for listening to the concerns of citizens and improving upon the organization and also for their lobbying skills which succeeded in getting the president to attend the Feok festival. For some time now, concerned Bulsa have always craved for the presence of a president at the Feok festival celebrations since this festival stands out among festivals in northern Ghana. The presence of the first gentleman of the land at a festival such as the Feok has enormous benefits to our development agenda.

Also read: Feok Festival 2017 Review

The president said many things about the development of Buluk the most outstanding of which is the assurance that Bulsa North District will be upgraded to a municipality soon. If Bulsa North district becomes a municipality as the president announced, it will help advance the development of the district and Buluk as a whole. If we are also able to get the president again to attend the Feok festival this year, construction works on our roads will also be completed since some road contractors have developed a lackadaisical attitude towards the work they are paid to undertake.

NPP women sympathizers at the FEOK festival

The grand durbar was well organized and ready ahead of time. The grounds were prepared ahead of time and arrangements were made early to keep the place in order before the program kick-started.

The greatest innovation that was brought into this year’s Feok festival was the Bulsa Heritage and Cultural Exhibition which showcased numerous artifacts relating to Buluk culture. Although this was not incorporated into the program of the Feok festival celebrations, their presence was felt by many attendees. This innovation has to be included in Feok festival celebrations and all dignitaries made to have a feel of what constitutes Buluk culture and tradition. This will also help sustain our cultural heritage which is gradually fading away without notice.

Another observation that became a worry to many people was the presence of people in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) paraphernalia. Many people have expressed concerns that some people were trying to play politics with our collective brand and identity which is the Feok festival.

Two schools of thought were established; the opponents expressed concerns that such show of partisanship at a big cultural celebration as Feok which should unite us will end up doing the opposite and may affect patronage in the future; the proponents also claimed there was nothing wrong with identifying themselves as NPP sympathizers at an event which had their leader as the special guest of honor. To them, some people attended the occasion because they wanted to listen to what the president and the chiefs had to say, others attended just to have a glimpse of the president and his entourage. Everybody chooses to focus on what matters to them, they say.

My thoughts about this observation are that having followed the Feok festival celebrations for over twenty years and seen how things were done in the past, this was not the first time party paraphernalia were worn at a Feok festival celebration but it can have a negative impact on patronage and the unity agenda going into the future.