Cape Coast, July 25, GNA- A colourful carnival of masquerades from Winneba and Cape Coast, people of African descent from the Diaspora, and an art troupe from Abuja, Nigeria was on Sunday held in Cape Coast, amidst brass band music from the local Methodist Brigade.

This was to usher in the celebration of this year's Pan African Historical Theatre Festival (PANAFEST) in Cape Coast and Elmina. The theme for the festival, which is the seventh, since its inception in 1992, is " Preserving and Uniting the African Family in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS".

People danced their way through the principal streets to the Adisadel College Park, where they converged for the official opening of the PANAFEST Expo/Trade Fair, by the Oguaahene, Osabarima Kwesi Atta II. Osabarima Kwesi Atta, who is also the chairman of the PANAFEST planning committee, welcomed the Africans from the Diaspora "back home and urged them to make the best of the festival". Fifty-six exhibitors from Accra, Tamale, Kumasi, Burkina Faso and Cape Coast have so far registered and mounted their stands, for the Expo/Trade Fair.

Among the items on exhibition are artefacts and handicrafts, clothing, beads, jewellery, batik and tie- dye and kente. One thousand participants from Jamaica, USA, Trinidad, United Kingdom, Nigeria and Holland were expected to take part in the festival, which would be officially opened on Tuesday, July 26, at the forecourt of the Cape Coast Castle.

Some of the highlights of the nine-day festival are 'akwaaba' ceremony, colloquium, a grand durbar of chiefs, and a forum on HIV/AIDS to be climaxed with an awards night.

Rabbi Kohain Halevi, Executive Secretary of the PANAFEST Foundation, later told the GNA that, more than 80 local and foreign exhibitors were expected to take part in the Expo/Trade Fair. A gospel musical performance, featuring some local artistes, is to be held later in the evening.