THE BEAUTY OF MASQUERADING IN GHANA

MASQUERADING, popularly known as Kaakamotobi or fancy is one of the real deals that Ghanaians look forward to in the Christmas season.

Masqueraders enjoying the moment.

Masquerading began in the western region of Ghana in the early 1990s. You can read more about it; ➡️ History about Masquerading. These days, most of the regions have accepted masquerading and are celebrating every bit of it. Initially, the perception around masquerading was that it was for school dropouts, gang leaders and people with no vision in life. However, the narrative has changed because a lot people in the health sector, business, politics, entertainment and other sectors have joined the train.

Popular rapper and singer, Kwesi Arthur joins the bright Angels masqueraders in Tema.

Ghanaians have fully accepted masquerading hence, some parents allow their children and their daughters to join. In some cases, the parents themselves also join the train. The Masquerading festival starts from the 25th of December to the whole of January. The masqueraders walk around the neighborhood and visit other neighborhood and homes as well. In some other cases, some masqueraders share money whiles others also take from people since Christmas serves as a time of giving.

Some children displaying with a skating shoe

Aside people wearing the fancy dress and the masks, there is another group of people who are also part of the Masquerading groups called Zagramotobi. These type of people stand on long sticks and display by dancing. It is scary to watch them because it is likely that they might fall but whichever way, they do it regardless. These type of people add beauty to the whole concept of masquerading and people love to see them display.

The Zagramotobi

Masquerading is not complete without the magic of brass bands. Masqueraders feature brass bands to give them good music for them to dance and display to. The brass brands play every song from contemporary to old songs, gospel to secular music and any other genre of music. They follow masqueraders everywhere they go to make the walk lovely and not boring.

 A display of a brass band.

To sum up, our media stations also help with the advocacy as and when Christmas is drawing near. They interview masquerading groups about their upcoming events and also take coverage on Christmas day when the masqueraders are displaying. Some media stations that do this are Citi TV, Joynews and TV3. Below is heartwarming video on masquerading in Ghana.

Writer: Angel Martha Samadji