Every year, it is the biggest thing the people of Sekondi-Takoradi look out for and for two decades and still counting, the Ankos Festival, now called the Westside Carnival, has always witnessed one of the biggest numbers in the history of events in the region.
This has cemented the festival’s bragging rights of being the best Christmas celebration in the country.
Another year came and the people pretty much anticipated another historic outing of masqueraders from over 30 masquerade groups. These masquerade groups are made up of huge numbers as one group is set to have over 4,000 members.
Some of the known names of masqueraders to look out for are the Supreme, Unicorn, Cosmos, Punch, Oil City, Millionaires, Holy Cities, Nyanta Boys, and many others. They are groups formed and respected by their members in the region and every year they come out in their numbers to represent their groups like a known cult.
This year’s event, just like the previous year, started off on 24th December which was the official opening day of the carnival with series of activities to mark the celebration. There was the NLA live raffle draw on Saturday night, 24th December, as well as performances from various artistes, the Westside Carnival Momo market and outdoor of the 2022 fashion parade to model new costumes and swag of top 30 clubs on Sunday 25th December. The top 15 brass band competition was held on the same night, and then the Ankos street carnival /parade on 26th December.
The latter event started with each of the groups converging at a particular location to dress up in their various costumes. They were made of both men, women, young, old and even kids as young as three and four years of age. An all- female group known as ‘Classic ladies’ also represented fully in their costumes.
A walk through the streets of the city followed, amidst cheers and brass band music, with participants and on-lookers dancing and singing to the brass band music in a procession to the main venue of parade on Takoradi’s Liberation Road. The groups took turns in performing to the delight of the crowd, preceded by an introduction of the group and what is stands for. Performances came in two folds; each group will dance to a highlife tune provided by the band and then they perform a style of music and dance which is termed as ‘atwimu’ a local slang in the Western Region.
The event also saw performances from musicians – Kwabena Kwabena, Adina, Lasmid, Obrafour, and many others.
In an interview with the originator of the carnival, Mr. Willson Arthur, he stated that he’s happy with the rate at which the festival has been able to gather some great patronage for itself and even seen more great things happening in the coming years. He also spoke about the level of impact it’s made in terms of business and creation of jobs for the youth in the region.
Western Regional Minister, Honorable Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, who fully represented in his ‘Supreme’ masqueraders costume, stated that the occasion meant so much to them. He revealed that the team had been trying to move the event from a social mobilization to an economic mobilization and that has given the groups opportunity to give some scholarships and other incentives to its members who are mostly the youth to be able to start life and also develop their individual talents.
The Westside Carnival 2022 is powered by Sky Media Group Event and proudly brought to patrons by MTN and sponsored by Ebony and NLA with support from the Ghana Tourism Authority, Latex Foam, 2 Fingers, WR Masqueraders Federation STMA White Lab and Sky @ 25 and a host of others.
The Ankos Festival also known as Takoradi street carnival or Masquerade Festival is an annual event celebrated by the people of Takoradi, Ghana. Its main attraction is dozens of groups of people or teams dressing in wild outfits who display their skills and arts via dance. The festival is usually celebrated from 24th to 26th December of every year, and is popular among tourists.
