Murdering our promising babies: The Pan-African historical theatre festival (Panafest) factor

Abstract

International cultural festivals have attracted researchers and tourists globally for their role in impacting understanding and appreciation of societies and cultures worldwide. Regardless of this recent emphasis, in Ghana, there is paucity of literature on one of the most historically celebrated international historical and cultural festivals of unique significance to the global Pan-African family, the Pan-African Historical Theatre Festival (PANAFEST). Yankah (2012) critiques the Ghanaian PANAFEST by examining the chequered history behind its evolution from a small-scale, culturally local vision to a grandiose event more appealing to tourists than to local citizens. So, deploying the interpretive paradigm and narrative design and with a SWOT analysis, we explored PANAFEST in perspective, seeking to critically examine its genesis, state of affairs for its prime periods, from 1990s to 2010, to expose challenges shackling its sustainability by the Citizens. The findings revealed that a lack of funding, mismanagement, negative perceptions and misgivings, poor planning and organisation, and partisan politics defeat the purpose for which PANAFEST was established. We opine that PANAFEST represents geopolitical, public memory, cultural space and theatrical event, and that it has come to stay and all governments, private individuals, tourists, African diasporans, Pan-Africanists, slave descendants and other corporate institutions should put their shoulders to the wheel in making it a monumental festival for generations yet unborn.