Nkyidwo Festival is an annual festival celebrated by the people of Essumeja in the Bekwai District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
The Ashanti are the largest tribe in Ghana and one of the few matrilineal societies in West Africa.
The area of Ashanti is 9400 square miles with a population of about one million. The Ashanti people have always been known as fierce fighters
In the Ashanti region is the Essumeja tribe. They celebrate their ancestors through the Nkyidwo festival. The festival is usually celebrated on the last Monday in November or the first Monday in June.
Nkyidwo is a very special festival to the people of the village of Essumeja.
The festival retells the native folktale in which their ancestors come out of a hole in the ground.
The village recreates the event by having the people of the village followed by a dog and a lion to the Asantemanso forest which is claimed to be the origin of the ancestral gods.
There are performances for the night including music, dancing, spiritual blessings from the gods, and other interesting activities that mark the special day for the Essumeja.
