Festivals, Communication and Development: A Perspective from the Fetu Festival of Cape Coast, Ghana

Abstract

This study investigates the Fetu Festival of the people of Cape Coast, also known as Oguaa, located in the Central Region of Ghana. It focuses on the cultural aspects of the festival to find out how they relate to communication and development. More specifically, the study examines the correlation between the festival and developments in the lifestyles of citizens, the community and possibly the country. In so doing, the study seeks to contribute to the global literature on the immediate links between festivals, communication and development from the perspective of the Fetu Festival of Ghana, which has received little research attention. The investigation was guided by the Participatory Communication Theory and which paved way for a qualitative inquiry involving face-to-face interviews with eleven (11) Key Opinion Formers (KOFs) in traditional culture, local politics and business as well as individual citizens in the research setting. The results of the study suggest that there is a correlation between the festival communication and development. The study brings to the fore the importance of a festival in a society as a unique culture that facilitates the building of valuable social norms such as solidarity, networking and trust in a community and identifies how such characteristics have the potential to impact on the development of local and sometimes national economies while benefitting individuals and communities.