TOURISM CARNIVAL IN KUMASI (GRAPHIC SHOWBIZ PAGE 3)

By George Ernest Asare

The Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) has organised a carnival in the principal streets of the Kumasi metropolis as part of its efforts to make people aware of the region’s tourism offerings.
With "Unity in Diversity" as its main theme the GTB succeeded in focusing the attention of the business community at the Central Business District of Adum and other parts of Kumasi from commerce to tourism.
With brass band music, highlife, gospel and traditional music as the vehicle and joined by dancers, the business community were naturally attracted to the activity that was going on around them.
By 10 am, the Post Office square where the carnival started was brimming with people, and as representatives of costumed cultural troupes, masqueraders , horse riders and other entertainers from other regions started arriving to be part of the carnival, the interest of onlookers had intensified.
The carnival went through the Post Office Square to the Barclays Bank roundabout to the Paul Sagoe Lane and then branched to the Focusline around the Agyekum Building through Dimlite, Pampaso to the Zoo Traffic Light, before moving through the Komfo Anokye Roundabout and ended at the Cultural Centre where they entertained a number of people who had already gathered there.
Commenting on the significance of the carnival, which is the second to be organised by the GTB in Kumasi, the Regional Manager, Mr Ben Anane- Nsiah said that apart from the various tourists sites in the region, certain events , such as the carnival, needs to be promoted and sustained to enable it become very much attractive to the public".
He said that in the Ashanti region, the Akwasidae festival is one attraction which promotes traditional values , enticing many dignitaries to participate fully "but it does not hurt to develop a different identity in the tourist industry such as the carnival, and Kumasi being cosmopolitan, it would soon become one of the attractions in the tourist industry if we sustain it.
"The idea of bringing the carnival to Kumasi is to highlight different regional presence because apart from the indigenes , there are a lot of other people in Kumasi who would be eager to participate in the event".
He said that the brass band, masqueraders and cultural troupes who took part were from the Northern, Greater Accra , Volta, Central and Ashanti Regions.