Ghana abounds with over 2 dozens of festivals celebrated by the different clans and ethnic groups in the country. Throughout the whole calendar year from January to December, a festival is celebrated by one tribe or another.

One of the first festivals celebrated in the country in the year is the Edina Buronya Festival which is celebrated by the people of Elmina. ‘Buronya’ means Christmas in Fante (the dialect spoken by the Edina). The festival is therefore the people’s own version of the Christmas. It is usually celebrated on the very first Thursday (Yawoda) of the year.

During this festivity the people use the occasion to perform purification rites and sacrificing to the gods in a prayer for a better year in their occupation. There are lots of merry-making and families get together to celebrate their own version of Christmas. This particular festival was bequeathed on the people of Elmina by the Portuguese who were apparently the first Europeans to settle among the Fantes in the 15th century.