Design components in the celebration of Hogbe festival of Battor traditional area in Ghana

Abstract

Festivals are regarded as one of the most important elements in the formation of culture. This means that in order for a town to accomplish its cultural development goals, the festival should be a focal point. The Battor Traditional Area celebrates the Hogbe festival to commemorate their escape from Notsie, Togo, to their current abodes in Ghana's Volta Region. The paper seeks to identify and describe the design elements and principles that contribute to the festival's success and pageantry. The study employed qualitative research, using Hogbe festival as a case study. The qualitative research was used for the study because it allowed for detailed description of events of the festival and facilitated close interactions between the researchers and the participants in their natural settings. Thirty-five (35) participants were purposively chosen, and data were collected using a semi-structured interviews, field notes, photography, and participant and non-participant observations. According to the results, the inhabitants of the locality profited through social, cultural, economic, political and spiritual means as a result of their commitments to this cultural heritage. The art forms on display, the appearance, and understanding of the celebration's socio-cultural significance were among the observations conducted.  The findings also indicated that, throughout the festival's celebration, the chiefs' procession and entourage display line, space, colour, variety, rhythm, line, dominance, and unity among others.  It is recommended that the Battor Traditional Council, Hogbe planning committee, the North Tongu District Assembly, business community in the area, creative art industry, Ghana Tourism Authority, civil society organizations, and the general public should maintain the various activities that characterize the celebration in order to bring about beauty, appreciation and preservation of cultural heritage for the study area.