The Creative Explosion Concert, held at the National Theatre on Wednesday, 23rd July 2025, delivered a night of music, dance, poetry and cultural celebration as part of the PANAFEST 2025 programme.

Organised by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), the Black Star Experience and under the auspices of the Government of Ghana, the event reflected this year’s theme: “Africa Leads, the World Follows.” It brought together performers and audiences from across Africa and the diaspora to celebrate the continent’s artistic leadership and ancestral heritage.

The concert featured a stirring opening performance by Big Twins, whose northern Ghanaian rhythms energised the crowd. It continued with appearances from celebrated musicians and groups including Amandzeba, Santrokofi Band, Ras Caleb Appiah-Levi, David Conscious, Ehalakasa, the Afro Latino Dance Community, the National Dance Company and Acao Zumbi Brazilian Theatre Arts.

Beyond entertainment, the event carried deeper meaning, paying tribute to the late Efua Sutherland, the literary icon and Pan-Africanist whose vision helped shape Ghana’s cultural narrative. She would have turned 101 this year.

Professor Esi Sutherland, Chairperson of PANAFEST and daughter of the late Efua Sutherland, underscored the festival’s purpose in an emotional address. “PANAFEST is a call for us to use the art to tell stories that are difficult to tell, but to try and create bridges among ourselves,” she said. “So here we’re creating bridges, with the North, with Jamaica, with Barbados. Why? Because as Africans, we have been separated when we shouldn’t have been. It’s time to come back together again. So, we create our own platform.”

She urged Ghanaians to embrace the pride of owning the festival, adding: “PANAFEST is a fully Ghana-conceived idea. We are the hope of Pan-Africanism on our continent. PANAFEST is about art with a message.”

Deputy CEO of the GTA, Mr Abeiku Aggrey Santana, also called on Africans and the diaspora to sustain the vision of the festival. “Let us keep the flame of PANAFEST burning; in song, in movement, and in purpose,” he said.

The concert drew a diverse audience, including the Deputy Brazilian Ambassador, government officials, historians, artists, cultural leaders and students from Accra High School, Achimota Abofu Keep Fit Club, Accra Technical University and the University of Media, Arts and Communication – Institute of Film and Television (UniMAC-IFT).

Mr George Lomotey, Director of Marketing at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, described PANAFEST as “not just one of the events on the cultural calendar of Ghana” but “a powerful reminder of our shared responsibility; of the struggles, triumphs that have shaped our identity as a people, and of the bridges we continue to build between Africa and the rest of the world.”

The jubilant atmosphere saw audience members clapping, dancing and chanting, embodying the pride and unity that the festival represents.

The Creative Explosion Concert lived up to its name, transcending borders and stereotypes while uniting the continent and its diaspora in a night that was more than entertainment. It was a movement, affirming once again that Africa is not waiting for a seat at the table but is building its own and leading.