Ho is the capital of the Volta Region. The Volta Regional Museum is located in the city; the bell and the old chapel in Ho-Kpodzi offer a distinct perspective on church history. The Asogli Yam Festival, in turn, is rooted in the region and extends beyond the immediate city. These bring different cultural themes together: the history of a museum building, a historic event involving a bell, and an annual harvest festival. If you want to understand Ho’s cultural context, distinguishing between these helps you avoid conflating local history, missionary history and festival time.
The Volta Regional Museum and the history of its building
The Volta Regional Museum is located in Ho, the capital of the Volta Region. The building formerly housed the office of the Regional House of Chiefs; the museum opened in 1973. Its former use and the museum’s opening mark two separate periods in the building’s history: first its function as an office, then its beginnings as a museum. The city’s status as the regional capital also places the museum in a regional context. So what matters for your choice is not just the museum’s name, but also the combination of its location, the building’s former use and its opening history.
The bell and church history in Ho-Kpodzi
In Ho-Kpodzi, the old church bell stands in front of the old chapel of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana (EPCG). In 1929, church missionary Rev. Alex Funke returned it to its original location after it had been in captivity for 60 years. The bell is a relic of the Bremen missionaries’ presence. Its location and history are intertwined: its return is dated to a specific year, and its missionary connection provides a distinct historical context. Unlike the former use of the museum building, this story focuses on a single object and a specific event involving its return. The bell is thus a distinct topic within the cultural history of Ho-Kpodzi.
The chapel itself also has regional significance: it is one of the oldest multistorey buildings in the Volta Region. Ho-Kpodzi also has a missionary cemetery connected with the town’s church history. Alongside the bell’s dated history, these offer two further perspectives: the chapel’s architectural significance and the cemetery’s connection to local church history. If you are particularly interested in missionary history, you can consider these as distinct historical connections.
Asogli Yam Festival: a regional celebration
The Asogli Yam Festival broadens the view to the wider travel area. It is a harvest festival of the Asogli State (Ho) and the surrounding towns of Sokode, Abutia Klefe and Akrofu, and is celebrated every September. The chiefs Togbewo and Mamawo and the people of the Asogli State give thanks to God, the gods and the ancestors for a bountiful harvest and pray for health and prosperity. This makes the festival different from the place-specific histories of the museum and the bell: it takes place annually in September and draws participants from across the region. In Ho Jubilee Park, a Durbar of Chiefs and the people of Asogli is the festival’s highlight each year. The festival includes surrounding towns, while this particular highlight takes place in Ho Jubilee Park. If you want to plan your trip around the festival, check the dates for the relevant year.
Discover more destinations: Anloga, Juapong, Mepe, Sogakope, Hohoe, Dzodze
Back to the regional travel overview: Volta.
