Otumfuo sitting in state during the Asanteman Council Meeting at Manhyia
THE ASANTE Kingdom, ably headed by the 16th Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, will for the first time in 64 years hold the sacred Odwira festival, this year.
This great news was announced by Otumfuo during Asanteman Traditional Council meeting at the Manhyia Palace, in Kumasi, the official seat of the kingdom on Monday.
He said the Odwira festival, which entails a lot of traditional and cultural events, would start on October 31, 2025, which is ‘Fofie’ on the Asante calendar and last for more than one month.
Activities to mark the festival include display by fetish priests, clean up exercises, durbar of chiefs and visits to virtually all the sacred places in the Asante Kingdom by Otumfuo, among others.
Otumfuo explained that the Odwira festival would be used to purify and rekindle the great spirits of Asanteman, which has been in existence for over four centuries now.
“After the series of traditional and cultural activities, the spirit of Asanteman would be rekindled and this would help make the Asante Kingdom greater and stronger than before,” he remarked.
He recounted that the last time that Asanteman organised an Odwira festival in the kingdom was way back in 1961 when Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyeman Prempeh II, was the then Asantehene.
“The Odwira festival was last held in our great kingdom way back in 1961, and it has not been organised again. But I have decided to make sure that Odwira festival is organised during my tenure,” he disclosed.
Otumfuo said celebrating Odwira festival in the Asante Kingdom takes a lot of planning and hard work, stressing that everything has been done for the festival to take place this year.
The King also said he would elevate some stools such as Fiapre, Nkyiraa, Menye and Atronie, among others, which serve the Golden Stool in the Bono and Ahafo Regions, this year.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah, Kumasi