All Set For 2025 Asafotufiam Festival In Ada

The vibrant and historic Asafotufiam Festival is all set to dazzle once again, as the chiefs and people of Ada in the Greater Accra Region prepare for the grand durbar of the 2025 edition. Marking its 88th celebration, this year’s festival promises a spectacular display of Ada’s rich cultural heritage, centered around the theme: Peace, Unity and Justice: The Pillars of Our Progress. The durbar is the festival’s centerpiece, featuring the firing of musketry by warrior groups known as the Asafotu, in remembrance of the Ada people’s ancestral battles.

Traditionally, this act honours the bravery of warriors past and reaffirms the community’s identity. The celebrations begin in the first week of August and continue through the following week. A key feature of the festival is the initiation of young men into the Asafotu warrior companies, where they are taught traditional warfare techniques.

The Paramount Chief of Ada, along with sub-chiefs, queen mothers, and ten clans, will lead the colourful procession, offering prayers, speeches, and cultural displays. On Sacred Friday, marked yesterday, August 1, 2025, clan leaders visited the sacred grounds to swear an oath of allegiance to the ancestors, especially the warlords whose courage helped the Ada people secure a homeland.

Sunday will be marked by a community-wide open-air church service, followed by a week of activities including beach parties, boat races, river excursions and football matches, drawing in both locals and the diaspora. President John Mahama is expected as the Special Guest of Honour, alongside the Minister of Communications and Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Mr Samuel Nartey George among other dignitaries. The 2025 Asafotufiami Festival is more than just a celebration it’s a powerful homecoming and a reaffirmation of peace, unity, and justice in Ada’s forward march forward.