{"id":340,"date":"2016-07-19T17:44:32","date_gmt":"2016-07-19T17:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/?p=340"},"modified":"2016-12-05T22:32:33","modified_gmt":"2016-12-05T22:32:33","slug":"okyir-new-year-festival-video-selections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/uncategorized\/okyir-new-year-festival-video-selections\/","title":{"rendered":"Okyir (New Year) Festival Video Selections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><strong><span class=\"Heading\">Video Selections:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b>Day 3<\/b><br \/>\nIn the late afternoon of the third day of the <i>Okyir<\/i> Festival a competition had been organized between traditional music groups from the town. Three groups participated in 1992&#8211;<i>odenkese, adzewa\u00a0<\/i> and <i>adenkum.<\/i> A canopy was set up at the edge of the durbar grounds under which the judges and a few invited guests were seated. One at a time, the groups approached the judges and presented two or three numbers. The video clip includes a few seconds of footage of each of the three groups as they approach the judges. That night there was also a vigil held by the town&#8217;s <i>akomfo<\/i> that I did not witness.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 320px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-340-1\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"http:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Okyir1.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Okyir1.mp4\">http:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Okyir1.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p><b>Day 4<\/b><br \/>\nThe fourth day of the festival was its ceremonial climax and included a colorful procession through the town by the community\u2019s key organizations and a festive durbar. The clip begins with the head of the procession, which includes representatives of the <i>akomfo<\/i> and the paramount chief (including the royal <i>fontomfrom<\/i> ensemble).<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;cross dissolve&gt;<\/span><br \/>\n<i>Asafo<\/i> companies follow&#8211;here we see Co. No. 6\u2019s <i>frankakitsanyi<\/i> waving a company flag followed by the company\u2019s official voice, its <i>asafokyen,<\/i> upon which texts are being drummed.<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;fade out&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nThe procession makes a stop at the paramount chief\u2019s palace to present libations to ancestors and important local spirits.<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;cross dissolve&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nThe procession is re-organized&#8211;here we see the <i>asafo<\/i> companies being addressed and ordered numerically. A bugle call signals the paramount chief\u2019s emergence from his palace.<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;fade out&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nThe now much filled-out procession recommences on its route to the durbar grounds with the fetish priestesses leading the way and followed by the first two <i>asafo<\/i> companies.<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;cross dissolve&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nLater, <i>Asafo<\/i> Co. No. 6 passes by.<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;cross dissolve&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nTowards the end of the procession are the chiefs from the Anomabu Traditional Area, with the <i>omanhene<\/i> (paramount chief) and his entourage (which includes the royal <i>fontomfrom<\/i> drums) situated at the very end.<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;fade out&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nMeanwhile, at the durbar grounds the crowd that is already gathering in anticipation of the arrival of the procession is being entertained by a brass band. The grounds, a large open field, are fringed with canopies underneath which spaces have been reserved for the groups participating in the procession.<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;fade out&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nThe procession arrives at the durbar grounds and its participants head for their assigned places.<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;cross dissolve&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nAt the end of the procession is the entourage of the paramount chief.<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;fade out&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nAll sorts of performances take place in a seemingly spontaneous manner on the open grounds. First we see a display of soccer ball handling,<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;cross dissolve&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nan <i>asafo<\/i> flag presentation,<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;cross dissolve&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nthe brass band strutting its stuff,<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;cross dissolve&gt;<\/span><br \/>\na ribald (and perhaps inebriated) improv group,<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;cross dissolve&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nthe town <i>adenkum<\/i> group, and<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;cross dissolve&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nsome very flexible acrobats.<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;fade out&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nLater, the mood becomes more formal as all the official participants shake hands with the <i>omanhene<\/i> (a symbolic reaffirmation of their allegiance), libations are poured, prayers are spoken and<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;cross dissolve&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nformal speeches are delivered.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 320px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-340-2\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"http:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Okyir2.mp4?_=2\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Okyir2.mp4\">http:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Okyir2.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p><b>Day 5<\/b><br \/>\nActivities on the fifth day of the <i>Okyir<\/i> Festival take place on the beach next to Fort William. At one time or another in the course of the day, almost everyone will submerge themselves in the ocean for a moment as a symbolic act of cleansing called &#8220;sea bathing.&#8221;<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;cross dissolve&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nOther more organized activities include wrestling matches,<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;cross dissolve&gt;<\/span><br \/>\ndisplays of group solidarity (e.g., a women\u2019s club singing and dancing),<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;cross dissolve&gt;<\/span><br \/>\ntug-of-war competitions, and boat races (not shown).<br \/>\n<span class=\"reference\">&lt;cross dissolve&gt;<\/span><br \/>\nThroughout the day new groups continue to arrive at the beach, often times singing and dancing. In some of the concluding segments the Anomabu <i>apatampa<\/i> group, dressed in their diagonally-striped outfits, can be seen and heard getting into the spirit of the celebration.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 320px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-340-3\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"http:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Okyir3.mp4?_=3\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Okyir3.mp4\">http:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Okyir3.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/uncategorized\/okyir-new-year-festival\/\">&lt;&lt;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Video Selections: Day 3 In the late afternoon of the third day of the Okyir Festival a competition had been organized between traditional music groups from the town. Three groups participated in 1992&#8211;odenkese, adzewa\u00a0 and adenkum. A canopy was set up at the edge of the durbar grounds under which the judges and a few &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/uncategorized\/okyir-new-year-festival-video-selections\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Okyir (New Year) Festival Video Selections&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":771,"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions\/771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/ghana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}