All is set for the 9th Okwawu Paragliding Festival which is scheduledto come off this weekendEaster Friday 18th April through to Tuesday 22nd April 2014 at Atibie-Kwahu, a release from the Ghana Tourism Authority has said.

Preparations at the take-off point at Atibie have taken shape. This year’s event has a special addition which features an exhibition of tourist attractions in the kwahu area. This is to help market and encourage tours and travels to Kwahu.

This year’s event will include a photo exhibition by the Kwahu Tourism Initiative, health walks, street jams, adventure walks, hiking and many others.

Among the attractions to be visited include the Bruku rock, a striking natural monolith leaping up from a sphinx-liked hill. It is regarded as a god protecting the entire kwahu area, and its hill is sacred.

Fifteen of the world’s best pilots from USA, France, Japan, Belgium and South Africa are expected in town.

All necessary arrangements such as security and rescue mobilization have been provided to ensure the success of the festival, the release said. 

The Paragliding festival has boosted domestic tourism in the Kwahu Area and also raised the profile of the Easter celebrations of the people. Over 300 people are expected to fly this year.

The release also noted that as Ghana prepares to move into the next phase of its development agenda, it stands to reason that tourism holds the key to providing the alternatives. It said that, GTA’s mission is not only to promote Ghana’s tourism internationally but more importantly domestic tourism for which events attractions such as Paragliding formsa  significant part.

Paragliding as an international sport was introduced in Ghana in 2005 to promote domestic tourism. It is organized to coincide with the Easter celebrations in Kwahu and has been hosted by the Kwahu South District Assembly since its inception in 2005. It is enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of pilots around the world. It is popular in Europe with over 400,000 pilots. Its origin has its roots in parachuting.