Cape Coasters celebrate ten years of Orange Friday

Hundreds of patrons touched the historic city of Cape Coast to celebrate the famous Oguaa Fetu Afahye Orange Street Carnival.

The Orange Friday Carnival, undoubtedly Ghana’s largest carnival, draws more than two hundred thousand visitors to the historic city of Cape Coast each year to witness the vibrant costumes, massive floats, and street celebrations.

The annual celebration which began ten years ago, has attracted many brands, institutions and individuals, who take advantage of the opportunity to showcase and advertise their products and services to the celebrants.

The crowd mostly dressed in orange colours, sang and danced to tunes of music with a blend of display on how the Dutch enslaved the country’s forefathers.  ]

Again, there were skating and acrobatics displayed by some groups to spice up the atmosphere as the city was converted into a carnival city, beaming with brightly coloured floats, a variety of masks and old school dressings.

The week-long Oguaa Fetu Afahye, normally climaxes on Saturday, but the Orange Friday Carnival is typically held on the Friday prior to the durbar.

Patrons of the carnival travel from within and outside of the country to participate and catch a glimpse of the spectacular displays of dressings, music, and parades through Cape Coast’s main streets.

This year’s four- kilometre distanced carnival, saw the patrons calling for support from the traditional authorities and the Ghana Tourism Authority to help make the carnival bigger and better for the desired impact.

Aside from the merry-making, businesses also boom. More than 120,000 T-shirts were sold by the organizers with more demands, which could not be met.

Political parties on the other hand advertised themselves with placards, branded t-shirts and party paraphernalia to showcase their candidates for possible votes.
This year the carnival began at 0300 hours from Ayifua junction through to Pedu Junction to Kotukuraba and ended at the Chapel square within the Metropolis.

Some brands that participated included Obuase bitters, Palmee juice, Bidi Group, Adonko Next Level and Angel cola drinks.

Others are Donewell Insurance company limited, Lawson De-Ray, Food and Drugs Authority, and Zoomlion Ghana Limited, among others.

Amandzeba Madiba, Initiator of Orange Friday, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the carnival was initiated to promote businesses and increase sales during the festive season.

It was also to get the youth involved in the Fefu Afahye, which was usually centered around the elderly in the area.

He noted that 10 years had not been easy but would collaborate with others to improve on security among others to keep participants safe during the season.

Mr. Madiba said the carnival had sold Cape Coast to the world helped increase revenue and boost the local economy.