The people of Akuapem area in the Eastern Region celebrate Odwira in the months of September or October depending on which town or community they come from. It is celebrated by the people of Amanokrom, Aburi, and Akropong all found on the highlands in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The Odwira is a colorful celebration in which the chiefs sit in state and homage is paid to them by his sub-chiefs and ordinary people in the area. One evening during the festival the royal stools are taken to the streams to be purified and cleaned. During this period the people are warned not to come out of their homes. Purification is the main significance of the Odwira festival and that is symbolized by the stool cleaning ritual. During this period libations are poured to the gods to ask for prosperity and protection. [nggallery id=18]

GhanaFest is a festival that is not celebrated in Ghana but in Chicago by the Ghanaian community. It begun 1989 and currently is celebrated yearly in the month of July to celebrate Ghanaian culture as well as experience the unity among Ghanaians and other Africans in Chicago. Homowo was celebrated in 1987 by the Ghana-Chicago Club (GCC) together with the Ga and Ga-Dangme communities in Chicago.

The celebration received encouraging patronage from the Ghanaian communities. This inspired the organizers to apply for sponsorship from the to make this celebration an annual event. They therefore applied to the city of Chicago’s neighborhood festivals program for funding and support. Their request was granted and the following year they were supported with tents, stages, drinks, toilets, space and funding.

In 1989 the sponsored Homowo celebrations was merged with the celebration of Odwira. The occasion was therefore nicknamed “Homowo-Odwira Festival”. A year later the Ghanaian organizations in Chicago under the auspices of the GNC decided to make it a celebration for Ghanaian festivals to attract more patronage for all interested parties. So in 1990 the GhanaFest was fully launched in Chicago with support from the city of Chicago.