The Kakube festival of Nandom Traditional Area: Origin, musical traditions, and educational relevance in Ghana

Abstract

Despite Ghana’s rich indigenous festivals and musical traditions, many remain under-documented and insufficiently integrated into formal educational frameworks, leading to the marginalisation of indigenous knowledge systems in cultural and music education. The Kakube Festival of the Nandom Traditional Area is a vibrant cultural event that embodies the community’s historical consciousness, musical heritage, and social values; yet its educational relevance has received limited scholarly attention. This study explores the origins, musical traditions, and educational relevance of the Kakube Festival, with particular emphasis on its role in cultural identity formation, social cohesion, and community development. Adopting a qualitative research approach, the study examines the festival’s distinctive musical traditions, including indigenous drumming, singing and dance practices, and analyses their functions in cultural transmission, socialisation, and communal participation. The findings reveal that Kakube musical performances do not only serve as artistic expressions but also as informal educational tools through which history, values and collective identity are communicated across generations. This study underscores the importance of repositioning local cultural practices as valuable resources for holistic education and sustainable community development in Ghana.