After twelve years of hosting the Chale Wote Street Art Festival at James Town in Accra, the organisers have announced a new venue for the 13th edition.

Accra Dot Alt, the owners of the event have disclosed this year's edition of Africa's most vibrant street art festivals will be held at the Black Star Square in Osu, Accra.

The programme will start on Monday, August 21, 2023 to Sunday, August 27, 2023.

The 2023 edition of Chale Wote Street Art Festival is a celebration of over a decade of offering some of the most iconic public art interventions by African artists, as well as co-creations with collaborators from across the world.”

According to the Director of the festival, Mantse Aryeequaye, the event will start "from the Independence Square all the way into the Osu township, where the High Court complex is, down into Independence Square, into the Osu Castle, into the Osu community, all the way down to Oxford Street, and all up to the Osu cemetery traffic light coming towards Accra Sports Stadium, rounding it back into Independence Square."

Chale Wote literally translates as ‘Friend, let’s go’ in Ga, the language of indigenes of Accra, but has come to stand for flip-flops.

Explaining why the event has been moved to Osu, Nii Ayitey, the Director of Operations for Chale Wote Street Arts Festival told Roselyn Feli on Joy Prime that "over the years, it looks like the festival has outgrown the space, and other things are taking over the festival and we want to move away from that. We want to show people that the street art part of the festival is still there so we want people to see that.

"We are taking it to a bigger space for people to see that. To improve the experience for people who are attending."

James Town, a predominantly fishing community and Accra’s oldest community, Mantse Agbonaa, has hosted the festival for twelve years, bringing together an alluring mix of artists, and musicians, designers and exhibitors.

The new venue, Osu, is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Accra, dating back to the early 19th century and has become an important part of the city’s commercial and cultural landscape.

The Black Star Square in Osu – will feature open-air mural exhibitions by leading Ghanaian and international artists, showcasing work inspired by the rebellion of enslaved Afro-Brazilians in 1835 Salvador Bahia and their glorious return to present-day Ghana, Togo and Nigeria.

The story is also performed as a musical theatre piece called 'Memory Movement Freedom' by multiple community-based performance, dance troupes and brass band.

For their participation this year, Ghanaian art collective AFUABE will create live murals detailing the former Gold Coast’s long history of resistance against colonial invasions.

Other showcases will include performance art, graffiti, 4 music stages with 120 musicians and bands, LABS, Salons, design, photography, processions, street theater and the SHIKA SHIKA Art Fair that will host independent artists at the Christianborg Castle.

The art fair supports and showcases dynamic presentations and works from intergenerational artists working outside of gallery spaces.

The castle gardens will also host the Chale Wote Film LABS and knowledge sharing salons from 22nd August to 24th August. Nonetheless, the opening of the event will take place on the streets of the Osu community on the 21st at 3 p.m.

Some major activities for the 13th edition of the festival are, but are not limited to, photo exhibitions, street painting, graffiti murals, interactive installations, street boxing, movie screening, processions, design labs, movie screenings, and more.

All these will be aired live on the multimedia brands, including Joy FM, Joy Prime, Hitz FM and other brands of the Multimedia group. It will be replicated on all social media platforms of the various Joy Brands.

The 13th edition of the Chale Wote Street Art Festival promises to come with a better experience as it officially partners with The Multimedia Group Limited.