Week 1 in Ghana - LET'S DO THIS

And so, finally, we’ve reached Ghana – the place in which we hope to make the festival dream a reality. It’s been a productive week alongside settling in, and already there are opportunities opened, questions raised...this is where it all really begins.

Driving down from Burkina, the differences made it instantly apparent that we had entered Ghana – a more stable country reaching out of the poverty of previous years . The bus, from Ghana’s state run STC bus company, was actually a pleasant journey...it had AIR CON, which was a God send compared to what we were used to. The passport control used COMPUTERS, the fruit being sold at the border was more varied and less fly-ridden...all the little things. OK, it’s still a very poor country in the grand scheme of things, and will inevitably provide various problems over the coming weeks and months, but you can tell already that it’s a nation pulling itself away from the trouble suffered by some other countries in the region.

And then there’s the countryside...! We’ve been used to baron land, desert almost – miles and miles of flat nothingness with dying trees dotted along the way. But the scenery here is ridiculous – I’ve never seen so much lush greenery, rainforests, rolling hills of jungle that just keeps on coming and seems never to end. I’ve been a bit lame of the pictures this week, and these don’t do it justice - it’s pretty amazing. I’ll try and get some more.

Nonetheless, it’s still West Africa, and it’s still mental.

So first stop was to make our way to Accra for a business conference for foreigners looking to set up in Ghana, which was really interesting and further helped in putting a lot of things into perspective. The organisers, for some reason, had decided to employ a conference mascot, who did little dances as the panel spoke...he then asked afterwards, in a voice that seemed to imitate Shnarf from Thundercats, if I’d be his manager. "I'm gonna make you a star, son".

We visited Kokrobite, a beach popular with backpackers on the edge of Accra, where we’re thinking of holding festival pre-parties. There’s been a lot of networking, and we’ve been fortunate enough to get together with some very nice people involved Accra’s music and nightlife scene – radio DJ’s, promoters and producers, some of whom had been considering an event like this for some time, so I'm sure we'll be seeing more of them...

The Ghanaian music scene is an interesting one. Ghana has a rich musical history, thanks in particular to high life - a fusion of jazz and traditional Ghanaian rhythms which was hugely popular in the 70’s and 80’s, and making Accra a central hub for music in Africa during that era. The Ghanaian music that the kids are now listening to is hip life, a fusion of high life and hip hop. But one of the less pleasing observations we made as we crossed the border was the music on the radio...having been used to hearing some really cool music from around West Africa throughout our whole journey, on entering Ghana the music began to change to a sound that seems to have been heavily taken up by an American influence – very mainstream sounding hip hop and hip life, which we knew would be the case. It seems as if the music here has lost a lot of its roots and, in the mainstream at least, tries to imitate American hip hop – something that, whenever attempted, is rarely as good as the real thing.

We’ve met with a group of radio DJs who share our frustration in seeing this. Many of them have lived outside of Ghana so have been exposed to more music, and have joined together to run their own night, Soul In Motion, to break the current mould a little, fusing soul, funk and house alongside a slightly less commercial brand of Ghanaian hip life – much of which, it seems, is beginning to go back to its high life roots and moving away from the Americanised stuff the mainstream has been listening to for so long. There is some really good stuff out here, but much of the problem is that the only music that gets through is that which has money behind it. But we’re determined to dig deep and seek it out...

We’re heading back to Kumasi for a week or so, but we’ve stopped off very briefly in an area we’ve had in mind as a potential festival site for many months now...I can’t say where it is just yet, but I can tell you it would be FUCKING COOL!!! There’s some crazy scenery round here which could make for an incredible, really unique setting. One problem, which will be a problem anywhere in Ghana, is the lack of accommodation. Saying that, we’ve found some shaded areas that could be used for camping, which themselves are amazing. It’s just a question as to whether people will be happy to camp – particularly Ghanaians. It’s interesting how many Westerners, so used to having the creature comforts of modernity, enjoy camping as a way of “getting back to nature”...but our concern is whether Ghanaians and Africans will see camping in the same light. There’s a good chance they won’t. They’re embracing their new wealth - the status symbols, the material wealth which displays their breakthrough into a new middle class. Hopefully we'll be wrong...All quite interesting stuff, but certainly something for us to consider. Wish I could show you the pics but let’s wait and see what happens first shall we.

So on the whole, our first week in Ghana has been an encouraging one. It’s made for some interesting late night discussions, but all helping to move us closer to knowing exactly how we can make this happen. I really don’t want to leave where we are now (potential site) because it’s a truly beautiful place, but the work must continue in the city....back soon for more updates!X