“6th of March, 1957 Ghaaaaanaa Independence Day” is the song that my siblings and I sang when Ghana’s Independence Day would come around. Independence Day is celebrated very differently in Ghana than it is in America. The most unique thing is probably how all the local schools prepare for months and then choose their best students to march in a competition that literally everyone in the city attends. There are also always a few important government officials present to watch and judge.
The marching is judged on a variety of techniques used, however, a few of those are the degree to which students throw their arms forward and back when marching, whether or not everyone is in sync or not, and their demonstration to the judges as they pass by.
A series of events usually occur at the ceremony which include, marching competitions between the local schools, marching by the police band and members of the stations, marching by military members, as well as special performances like a Taekwondo demonstration by the local team. (My brother and I participated in this one of the years that we were living there, and yes it was absolutely terrifying to have every eye in the stadium on us because we were the only white ones.)
Food is another large part of the celebration of Independence Day in Ghana. Vendors will bring all sorts of delicious treats and sell them to the sometimes thousands of people present. Ice cream is probably one of the biggest sellers on this day because it’s always very hot and it’s a long ceremony, often with a lot of standing.
Because it is so hot and humid in Ghana all the time, a celebration of Independence Day has never occurred (to my knowledge) without at least a few people passing out from standing for so long. Some of the military and police members stand completely still for hours in front of everybody while waiting for their turn to march.
When someone drops in the middle of the formation, nobody around them moves at all, but a trained ambulance member usually rushes forward to remove them as quickly as possible and treat them with the care they need. Often, they are removed on a stretcher because they are unable to move.
In March of this year, Ghana will celebrate its 64th Independence Day and sadly, I won’t be there to participate in the thrilling events that occur, however, I can remember the fun that I had when I used to go and the exciting events that always drew my attention in. If you ever go visit Ghana, first of all take me with you because I want to go, and secondly, try to go in March so that you can also experience the uniqeness of Ghana’s Independence Day.
That’s so cool I can’t wait to go and watch it with you 🙂
I look forward to it 🙂
It was so compelling to read this tribute to the day Ghanians celebrate their Independence. The festivities, the atmosphere, the unity! The unity is so potent and apparent. It strikes at the core of what Ghana’s independence is all about. Thrilling and insightful post!
This was very cool ro read! It was great to get perspective on how another country celebrates their independence day. I also did tae kwon do so I understand how intimidating it can be to be surrounded by a lot of eyes and trying to do something so intricate. Ghana’s independence day definitely seems a lot more structured and is quite different than the celebrations we have here. Great post!
It was so interesting to learn about Ghana’s Independence Day! To be quite honest, I don’t really know much about the independence celebrations of other nations, so this was very enlightening!