The National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC 2012) opened in Accra on Wednesday with a media launch that was characterized by cultural display by the Drama Company and Ghana Dance Ensemble.

The festival slated for Sunyani from October 13 to 20 is on the general theme: “Harnessing our diverse Human capital and technology to the creative industry and agriculture for sustainable national development towards a better Ghana”.

Two resident theatre groups of the National Theatre transformed the media launch into mini-cultural festival, as they engaged and challenged each other on the dancing floor with energetic traditional movements to the sound of heavy African drum beat.

The short, but impressive performances captured the attention of the audience, including ministers of state, journalists, and players in the theatre industry, who encouraged the groups with thunderous applause.

Mr. Alexander Asum- Ahensah, Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture, appealed to Ghanaians to rise up against ethnic tendencies and sentiments that were likely to sow seeds of discord and dissatisfaction. He said the Festival, launched in 1967 as a national flagship cultural event, had faced challenges of inconsistency.

Mr. Asum-Ahensah urged all regional groups participating in the festival to reveal the Ghanaian unity in diversity through cultural and artistic manifestations and as a means of cultural education. Mr. Fritz Baffuor, Minister of Information who chaired the launch, tasked the media to join the NAFAC crusade, to sensitize the public on the festival.

NAFAC was institutionalised in 1961 by the late Dr. Alexander Atta Yaw Kyerematen, the founder and the first Director of the Ghana National Cultural Centre now the Centre for National Culture in Kumasi. His concept was to bring all artists and artistes together to perform and exhibit their works once every year.

With time, the Institute of Arts and Culture became involved and in 1966, the United States Embassy in Accra decided to sponsor the GHANA ARTS FESTIVAL which opened on 25th January, 1967.

It was revisited in Accra as part of the second Ghana International Trade Fair in 1971. This biennial national festival was aimed at promoting unity and national orientation within Ghana’s cultural diversity. It was also geared towards cementing the cultural basis of the country’s development as a nation, as well as providing a forum to appraise the work of the Ghanaian society and the celebration of its achievements. The Festival at the national level is preceded by District and Regional festivals.

The purpose of the District and Regional festivals is to promote grassroots participation to unearth talents and inventions that will represent the regions at the National Festival.