The story behind Ghana's traditional fire festival
Every year, on the ninth day of the first month of their traditional calendar, the people of northern Ghana commemorate a nighttime search for a missing prince in days gone by. DW's Maxwell Suuk reports from Tamale in northern Ghana.
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00:00 lightning torches to usher in the new lunar year. This annual fire festival
00:06 lights up the night across northern Ghana. For the people here this festival
00:12 is a high point of the traditional calendar. We are so happy no sleep
00:19 tonight we will celebrate till daybreak. This is our tradition and we spent our
00:26 lives growing up observing it. Everybody including the Muslims they will be out
00:34 to celebrate it. That is why you are seeing masses of people there out today
00:40 cheering in excitement.
00:44 The spark that lights the fire from the celebration comes from the chief. Oral
00:53 history says the festival recalls how warriors went in search of a missing
00:58 prince. It was suspected or thought that maybe a wild animal had devoured the child.
01:06 So they had to summon the community especially the brave men to come out and
01:17 search for a child that night. And because it was in the night they had to
01:24 light the torch to search all around for a child. There is high euphoria driven on
01:33 by drumming display of masquerade and voodoo. Many believe the celebration is a
01:40 chance to seek favor for the new year. History has not named the year and under
01:47 which king the celebration started but the people here are so much identified
01:52 with this folklore saying it connects with their roots. The tradition says the
01:58 prince was found sleeping under a tree which had bewitched him. People throw
02:04 their torches into the branches before returning to the palace with the rescued
02:09 son. When we were going you see that the beat was different warlike. When they are
02:15 coming they have heard the child. They are now jubilating back to the palace to dance.
02:20 That is exactly what it was. Briefly that is the Bugum festival. The Bugum festival has set the
02:26 fires burning once again. The traditional greeting here is ask may God allow me to
02:33 live through the coming year with health and through fire again.