The Odwira festival is celebrated by the people of Akropong-Akuapim, Aburi, Larteh and Manfi in the Eastern Region.

The Akuapem Odwira festival was initiated by the 19^th Okuapimhene of Akropong, Nana Addo Dankwa 1 (1811-1835) and was first celebrated in October 1826.its significance is to celebrate the victory over the invincible Ashanti army during the historic battle of Katamansu near Dodowa in 1826 and also to cleanse them and ask for protection from their gods.

Odwira festival is a week long series of traditions and rituals performed to purify the town, the people and most importantly, the ancestral stools of the chiefs. It is also festival to celebrate the harvest of ``new Yams’’. Six weeks prior to the occasion, some activities are forbidden and hefty fines or serious punishments are given to people who violate this ban. Some of these activities include no loud music, no drumming, no whistling after dark and most of all no eating of the yams. The festival is broken into six days. On Monday, men from the three royal families in the town go and clear the path of their ancestral burial grounds. This is the sacred cemetery or ``Ammamprobi``. On Tuesday morning, the men from the royal family return to the sacred cemetery to get the ancestors` permission to perform the festival. Upon their return, a message is given to the chief that the festival can precede. The bans on all activites are lifted, on this day the New Yam is splittered. Wednesday is reserved to mourn the ancestors and all loved ones who passed away. All does that died during the six weeks ban are also buried on this day. They fast on this day to remember dead relatives. Thursday is for feasting, people exchange foods and other gifts. Some people also pay homage to the chief and the queen mother and give them presents of all kinds. There`s other form of activities like eating and cooking competitions. Friday is the day of celebration, the climax or the peak of the Odwira Festival. The Grand Durbar is held on this day. The Okuapimhene and Queen mother wear their full traditional regalia  and display a lot of gold on their heads, necks, waists, fingers and they are carried by their attendants above everyone in a palanquin and they dance bouncing in the air, whilst  there`s  drumming and singing going on, on  the packed street. They don`t do anything special on Saturday and Sunday. There are a few gigs here and there but nothing official.

The Odwira festival is celebrated yearly in December or early January. The Odwira (purification) is a very important festival during which the whole state is purified of all its evils. The first stool to be purified is the ``Great Paramount Stool`` followed by the other stools, one after the other, until all the stools in the state have been purified. In Akyem Abuakwa, the Okyeman council has decided that the celebration of Odwira Kese should be at intervals of 5 or 10 years as the paramount stool and the Okyeman Council may decide. However, the Okuapimhene and the Amanokromhene, who took the Odwira festival to Akwapim, celebrate it annually in Akwapim with the Okyenhene or his representative attending.