Ghana Day Festival and Business Expo unveiled

National Folklore Board in collaboration with the Association of Ghanaian Unions, Switzerland, the Embassy of Ghana in Bern-Switzerland and the Creative Arts Agency, Ghana has unveiled a historic Ghana Day Festival and Business Expo.

The novelty event which is aimed at reviving the spirit and love for one of Ghana's intangible culture, "hightlife music" while packaging it for the appreciation of the world is to create the needed benefits.

The historic event scheduled to kick start from June 30th to 1st July,2023 at Helvetiaplatz, Zurich-Switzerland will see a consistent engagement of members of the cultural industry and diaspora community to form psrtnerships that will translate into investment in Ghana.

Themed, "See Ghana, Buy Ghana", the unique initiative will provide a platform for diaspora, entrepreneurs, CEOs of Corporate Organizations, cultural investors, leaders and the Swiss Government to explore Ghana's folklore and its business potentials.

The overall aims of the initiative include but not limited to the promotion of foreign direct investment through entertainment, tourism, arts and folklore, to underscore business opportunities that Ghanaian culture products provide, to create an informal investor network session to develop partnerships and to serve as a network opportunities for local and diaspora business executives. Making a brief remarks before the launch, the Chief Director, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. John Yao Agbeko observed that despite great strides made by individuals and bodies in the promotion of both the tangible and intangible culture regarding impact on the economy through the attraction of tourists, players ought to upscale efforts.

He added, "Organizing such an event in a foreign land is a feature for Ghana's heritage sector and the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture is proud of such a milestone as it promotes it. He disclosed that the ministry is supervising the revision of Ghana's Cultural Policy to properly preserve Ghana's intangible cultural heritage which includes high life music.

"It will be the ministry's entreaty that the Ghana Day Festival and Highlife Concert will effectively promote and contribute the Ghanaian culture attracting investors from the diaspora.We hope that through this festival in Switzerland, we will preserve Highlife Artistes and its cultural repertoire, Brand Identity for highlife music, possibly establish a space for highlife music as a genre in the music eco-system, create the sense of connection between Ghana and the world through highlife music, amplify Ghana's investment potentials, strengthen the Ghana and Switzerland bilateral trade portfolios, while promoting Ghana's tourism, creative arts and culture",he added In an interview with the Executive Director of the National Folklore Board,Madam Bernice Ann Deh-Kumah after the brief but historic event, she believes that the event would revive the "dying" nightlife while whipping the interest among the diaspora community and Ghanaians back home.

She appealed that nightlife which forms the basis of the life of the Ghanaian as it is seen in every facet aspect of the non-tangible culture must not be allowed to die.

She maintained that the maiden edition of the initiative is tailored towards revamping the appreciation of highlight among Ghanaians as a Ghanaian-originated art.

According to her, the origin of hightlife music is traced to Ghana but it appears that the interest for it is dwindling hence the new initiative.