Celebration of National Festival of Arts & Culture

News Commentary on the celebration of National Festival of Arts & Culture 2014  and its relevance to national development

At long last the much anticipated celebration of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC 2014), has opened in grand style in Sunyani, the Brong Ahafo Regional capital with a lot of funfair, pomp and pageantry. There is no doubt that the celebration of the festival dubbed 'NAFAC 2014' will bring a great deal of joy to the chiefs and people of the Brong Ahafo region who have been anxiously waiting for this day since 2012.  It is therefore important to commend the Ministries of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs, the Brong Ahafo Regional Co-ordinating Council, the Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs, the Sunyani Municipal Assembly and indeed all stakeholders for sailing above all storms, to organize this year’s edition. The theme for NAFAC 2014 “the creative arts and tourism industry, a platform for national development” brings a lot of issues to the fore. First and foremost, it emphasizes the important and relevant role of the industry to the socio-economic development of the country. Secondly, it reinforces the fact that as a nation, we cannot do away with our cultural heritage if we want to project our identity and values as Ghanaians. Since the institution of the festival in the1960s from a humble beginning as an entertainment event, the celebration of the festival has grown from strength to strength emphasizing on the unity and strength of our cultural diversity as a nation to promote our national development.

NAFAC is no doubt the biggest national platform for the celebration of the Arts and Culture.

 As the President, John Dramani Mahama put it at the opening ceremony “NAFAC is the most anticipated event in the cultural calendar of the nation” and the continuous relevance of the festival cannot be over-emphasized. Indeed, the advantages of celebrating NAFAC are quite enormous. It is the most singular avenue for showcasing our rich Ghanaian culture, traditional values and heritage. In the area of tourism promotion, it opens the regions to tourism attractions and investment opportunities for wealth creation. It builds upon our collective strength as a people in our quest to consolidate our unity, national integration and cohesion. One advantage of the festival is that it is celebrated rotationally every two years thereby giving the opportunity to every region to host it once in the cycle. Indeed, the chiefs and people of the Brong Ahafo region must be proud to be hosting it once again after almost three decades.  

The reality of the situation however is that the organization of NAFAC comes with a lot of challenges, most especially the ability of the organizing ministry to raise the needed funds since the entire program is state funded. This often leads to the postponement of the festival which does not augur well for the industry to thrive. It was therefore heartwarming when the Minister for Tourism, Culture and the Creative Arts, Madam Elizabeth Ofuso Adjare stated that the organization of the festival is going through structural and content changes to make it relevant to present day national aspirations and to attract private sector participation. The call by the President to take a holistic look at the festival especially in the area of packaging our cultural products to attract international market is very timely and encouraging. One good news coming out from NAFAC 2014 is the assurance that the theatre complex at Sunyani will soon be completed. As a nation, the celebration of NAFAC will for a long time remain in our cultural calendar of events because of its socio-cultural and economic benefits. As the chapter on NAFAC 2014 is gradually closing, preparations must start in earnest towards NAFAC 2016 which probably may be celebrated by the second quarter of the year because of the general elections in December. Time is not on our side, for as the saying goes the journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. 
Long live our Culture, long live our heritage.

BY: NELSON KOFI AKATEY, P.R.O. MINISTRY OF CHIEFTAINCY & TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS.