Independence weekend saw the 5th edition of the Asa Baako (One Dance) Festival at Busua Beach attracting a large foreign and local crowd who hugely enjoyed the festival ambiance featuring live music acts and a “jungle party rave” to top DJs throughout the Friday and Saturday nights at Ghana’s most beautiful beach resort.

By day, festival revelers swam and surfed in the ocean, enjoyed a kids parade, Moringa workshops, breakfast Yoga sessions and more. In the afternoon the party really started to heat up as the music acts climbed the stage to perform.

There were notable performances from local rapper Lawmaker, the ever controversial Wanlov, Paulina Oduro, the “Magician” Captain Ghana who not only entertained but scared the crowd with his wizardry and palm-wine guitarist Kyekyeku who featured an unbelievably talented young trumpeter in his band. Also on show was the El Foukr South South an Algerian/Ghanaian collaboration bringing a new musical dimension to the proceedings.

But the climax arrived when the headline act, the supercharged songstress Wiyaala and The Djimba World Band hit the stage on Saturday night belting out songs from her new album to an ecstatic crowd. Her dancing, stage charisma and powerful melodic voice captivated the audience to the extent that she was forced to sing five encores before they would let her go.

As if this was not enough, the party then continued in the “jungle” behind the beach until daybreak as the revelers danced the night away to DJs playing the heaviest baddest dance sounds around.

In years to come, Ghana’s only international music festival is predicted to grow into a dollar earning phenomenon for the local economy rivaling other big music festivals on the African continent.