The Fante harvest and purification festival held in Cape Coast on the first Saturday of September each year, marking the end of the traditional 77-day ban on fishing in the Fosu Lagoon. The festival lasts a week and culminates in a grand durbar — the chiefs of the seven Fante 'asafo' companies, carried in palanquins under huge ceremonial umbrellas, parade through town accompanied by drumming, gunfire, and the asafo flags.
It is one of the most spectacular traditional festivals in Ghana and a good reason to time a visit for early September. Accommodation books up months ahead. The festival is also a major political event — the President or Vice President typically attends.