The National Commission on Culture (NCC) in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), CeeJay Multimedia and Ayalolo Festival, has launched this year’s edition of Wear Ghana Festival.
The month-long festival, which is being organised to showcase and promote Ghana’s cultural heritage and local textile industry, as well as to recognise creativity in the fashion industry, is on the theme ‘Wear Ghana, for Jobs in Ghana’.
The mission of NCC is to promote the growth and development of Ghanaian culture, making it more relevant to human development.
“This year’s festival is an opportunity to promote our national identity and encourage institutions to support our local fabrics and accessories,” the commission said in a statement.
“As the world becomes increasingly globalised, it is now important more than ever to celebrate and preserve our cultural traditions and uphold the integrity and memory of cultures, particularly the Ghanaian culture,” it said.
According to the commission, socio-cultural and economic researchers and scholars have indicated that clothing and fashion are key elements of a people’s culture that reflect on the people’s history, customs, belief systems, knowledge systems, communication and their general way of life as well as their natural resources.
Some of the activities lined up for the festival within the month include; exhibition with CeeJay Multimedia, outreach programmes in basic schools, NCC fashion flash, Wear Ghana on campus, fugu hub exhibition and traditional exhibition – last week of March to April.
The National Commission on Culture, since the inception of Wear Ghana Festival in 2017, has used the month of March to increase advocacy and campaign on made-in-Ghana clothing, fashion and accessories and fabrics.
The festival is used to promote all locally made products and services, from food to herbal medicine.
This year’s edition will feature several activities aimed at creating employment opportunities for Ghanaian youth in the fashion and creative industry.