Impressive Dress Rehearsal For Terrific National Mardi Gras in 2019

The Ghana Carnival 2018 event took place over the weekend with a lot of promise for growth and expansion into a major festive activity on the national calendar.

Scores of flamboyantly costumed paraders, masked reveller and a caravan of dancing troupes meandered its way across the principal streets of the capital.

They went from the Obra Spot at Kwame Nkrumah Circle through Adabraka to James Town’s Mantse Agbona, the GCB Bank and the National Lotteries Authority (NLA) on the High Street, before finishing point on Oxford Street, Osu.

Residents, shoppers and bystanders were stunned by the uncommon kaleidoscope of bright colours, the outlandish parade gear, and the wild costume of the paraders – all of which were designed and crafted from local Ghanaian fabric and drapery.

No less than 20 carnival queens commanded the float which drifted along the entire stretch of the route with ball-jugglers, dancers, acrobats and party roisterers with musical accompaniment from a mix of cultural troupe music, brass band music and DJ sounds.

The colourful Mardi Gras was the fourth edition of the national carnival event and was organised by the Tourism Ministry under the theme “Ghana Carnival 2018 – Using Arts and culture to promote the Economy ”.

It was sponsored by the Ghana Tourism Authority, NLA, GCB Bank, Ghana Airport Company, Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and the Daily Graphic.

The principal objective for rolling out this year’s edition of the Ghana Carnival is to use the event “to diversify the country’s tourism and creative arts sectors by highlighting its cultural relevance and building a linkage between the creative arts and other sectors of the economy.

Although relatively new in Ghana, carnivals of this nature date way back to the 13th Century in the Caribbean where they have become a major component of their tourism industry.

Trinidad and Tobago is highly celebrated as the originator of the modern day carnival since the 18th century, having infused the parade with a lot of native cultures, spectacle and traditions.

“Clearly, the future looks very bright for the Ghana Carnival,” suggested a source close to the organisers at the end of the parade.

According to the source, with this being only the fourth attempt and considering that the edition was plagued with low sponsorship, the general patronage and public response are impressive and commendable.

"We very strongly believe that early or immediate preparations for Ghana Carnival 2019 and a more progressive response from Corporate Ghana will transform this social platform into one of our country’s most anticipated national calendar events,” the source said.