The much anticipated maiden edition of the Ghana Music and Food Festival drew to a successful end over the weekend.  The three-day event which spanned from the October 28- 30 at the Accra International Trade Fair Centre, saw a varied display of indigenous Ghanaian dishes and beverages, as well as music. There were numerous exhibitors from across the ten regions of the country, presenting local foods from their respective regions.

The event was set up to preserve and reignite interest in Ghanaian foods and music, as a way of promoting our culture. Ghanaian hiplife artiste, Kwame Asare Obeng, popularly known as “A Plus”, who is also the Managing Director of Konsule Entertainment, expressed his delight at the success of the event. “For a maiden event, the Ghana Music and Food festival has exceeded our expectations. It has been successful in every respect, and we believe we gave value through this event. It has been worthwhile collaborating with Global Media Alliance, and we look forward to making the next edition bigger and better”, he said.

Expressing his gratitude to the organizers of the event, the president of MUSIGA, Bice Osei Kufuor, known in showbiz circles as “Obour”, noted that the concept was ingenious. “Ghanaians have a taste for quality food and music. The organizers have done a great job by striking the balance. This platform has given a revamp to Ghana’s music and ultimately culture, and we hope to see this grow and extend to other parts of the country and beyond”, he said.

The stages for the various music genres, namely ‘Ofie’ (Twi for home, to mean typical Highlife Music), Neighborhood (for Hiplife Music) and Jerusalem (for local Gospel Music), saw a total of about one hundred artistes over the three days. The opening night saw energetic performances from traditional musicians including names such as “Wulomei”. Saturday night saw “Neighbourhood” and “Ofie” come alive at the same time to entertain the ecstatic audience.

The grand closing on the 30^th, which was also the family day out, saw a massive turn-out as 6000 families came out to enjoy local dishes and seasoned Ghanaian gospel music from Jerusalem, while the children exerted themselves in the specially-created children’s village. Patrons stayed on till after the gospel session, after which a live band session thrilled them to some highlife tunes.