Roundup: Ghana Carnival 2016 showcases West African culture

The third Ghana Street Carnival started off here with much enthusiasm over the weekend, with various cultural and artistic groups on parade to showcase the various faces of Ghana's culture, creative arts and entertainment.

The three-day event also saw the La Brea Nightingales Steel Band of Trinidad and Tobago leading the T&T delegation in attendance.

Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Elisabeth Ofosu-Agyare was glad the annual event which is in its third year has been receiving enormous support both locally and internationally.

She was of the hope that with such innovative additions to showcase the country's rich cultural and creative arts heritage, tourism would recapture its position as one of the major foreign exchange earners for Ghana.

On parade were various cultural troupes from each each of the 10 regions of Ghana as well as acrobatic, masquerade and entertainment groups which treated participants to a colorful spectacle during the opening at James Town a coastal suburb of the capital.

"We've invited people from Trinidad and Tobago; we invited people from USA, Gunea Bissau, Ivory Coast and Togo," the minister remarked in an interview with Xinhua during the procession through some principal streets in the capital and terminated at the famous Black Star Square.

The minister was also optimistic that the high interest shown in the event with a lot of people; students from everywhere in the country and is good in promoting both domestic and international tourism for Ghana which will also help generate income for the country.

Nischal Mainali, a Nepalese student of New York University (NYU), described the carnival as awesome.

"The carnival here is local Ghanaian. Not an International Carnival but it brings together all the local cultures so I think this is very different in that regard," he said.

Nana Akua, a Ghanaian participants from Models Union of Ghana (MODUGA) underscored the need to sustain the momentum so that the news about the event would reach all corners of the world.

The Ghana Society of the United Kingdom (UK) are co-organizers of the annual colorful event which also brought students from major second cycle institutions around the country.

"We want Ghanaians to build this carnival to be our carnival, that will represent us; that will represent our identity; what we believe, our aspiration, what Ghana stands for; that is why this carnival came home." Maria Lovell, Founder and President of the Ghana Society of UK told Xinhua. Endit