The District Chief Executive of Bole, Veronica Alele Heming and the people of Sonyo have launched the 2023 annual Deng Festival in the Sonyo community.
The launch is a result of collaboration between the district assembly, the Savannah Regional Coordinating Council and the Vagla Youth Association to promote the annual three-day festival in a bit to attract tourists to the area.
This year’s Deng Festival is scheduled to take place from May 19 to May 21, 2023, at Sonyo in the Bole District.
Speaking at the launch of the festival at Sonyo, the District Chief Executive for Bole, Veronica Alele Heming said the celebration of this year’s festival will promote tourism and bring all sons and daughters of the area together to foster peace and development.
Whilst inviting the world to Sonyo for the 2023 Deng Festival, the DCE called for it to be used to identify challenges in the area and work at resolving them.
“The celebration of this year’s festival will project the tourism potential of the area as well as bring all far and near citizens of Sonyo traditional area together Sonyo to foster peace amongst natives.”
Let us use this occasion to solicit development for the area and also identify challenges of the area as well as find solutions to those challenges.”
The President of the Vagla Youth Association said the Deng Festival is an avenue to showcase the rich culture of the area and underscored its importance.
“Deng Festival has socio-economic and political benefits as it is an avenue for people from different parts of the country and outside to trade, take vows for successes in business, to seek political fortunes amongst others from the powerful earth deity. The Savannah Region of the North is free from Witches Camps due to the cleansing power of the Sornyor Kipo, which is so powerful to neutralize the powers of witches and wizards.”
“This is where the cleansed witches and wizards return to their communities as harmless people. Once cleansed, they are not able to do harm to people because the cleansed witches and wizards will be killed by the powerful earth shrine if they attempt to harm people.”
The annual Deng Festival at Sonyo in the Bole District of the Savannah Region is a melting point of the beauty of the multi-ethnicity of the Gonja State where many of the Gonja tribes meet at Sonyo to perform a traditional rite of sacrifices to their powerful earth deity known as Sornyor Kipo.
The Deng Festival brings the Indigenous Tribes of the Vagla, Safalba, Choruba and Nomee together with their sister tribes as well as other tribes within Ghana and beyond.
Thousands of people from within and outside the Savannah region troop to Sonyo for the three-day Festival.
The festival is also a means to enhance Tourism in the Savannah Region of Ghana.
The festival has a rabbit hunting event known as Woori which is the version of Aboakyere amongst the Effutu people of the Central Region of Ghana.
It is believed that the Savannah Region of the North is free from Witches Camps due to the cleansing power of the Sornyor Kipo, which neutralizes the powers of witches and wizards.
