While there was an ongoing banter on social media platform X about who truly owns “Detty December” between Ghanaians and Nigerians, the people on the ground were already geared up for an intensive three weeks of music, dance, drinks, food and continuous enjoyment.
While others may have their timelines, we at Ghana Music kicked off our Detty December on the 13th of December at Kweku Smoke’s Revival concert. The aftermath of that event was a forecast of what would happen during the entire festive period.
While people from the diaspora trooped in to join the festivities, Ghanaians had already begun the “dettiness”. While other significant activities were happening in different creative fields like Comedy shows, festivals of plays, movie premieres and a host of others, the main attractions were most often the music concerts and parties.
With Ghud Park hosting most concerts, other venues like Polo Beach, Alliance, Barn Door, Alley Bar, Front Back, Aria, Palm Moments and others were not left behind. Each venue has its event. While some events were artist-focused, others were DJ-centered, and others were just meetings of music lovers who just wanted to be in the company of people with great music tastes and drinks.
The high for the festive period was the event diversity, especially away from artist-centred events. The lows, on the other hand, were low. Top of the list is the lack of time adhesion from consumers and, most importantly, artists/organizers. It was almost insulting to see how several events did not start on time or close on time. The worst part of it would be the lack of remorse from the organisers. After all, why should they be remorseful?
Consumers from this part of the world have shown that they have an inner ink of being disrespected. As such, organisers took consumers on a “how much of this disrespect and disregard can you take” ride. Only a handful of events got their start and ending time right. While we shamelessly admit that some of the events, despite staying late at night, provided exciting moments, it is not something we can maintain and keep doing.
Afia Blue
I will rate the last Detty December a solid 4/10. The main challenge I can identify is how events drag deep into the night/morning. It’s worrisome, and I think it’s generally a punctuality problem. Patrons and event organisers are both not punctual. Ghana man time, right?
Less traffic this time, in my opinion. But that may also be because of the places I went to and the routes I used.
What could be done differently is for events to start on time and for patrons to arrive on time. Venues need to start moving, like venues abroad, and after a particular time, there must be penalties to be paid by organizers. This must be backed by local government by-laws and policies. If we start doing this, we can all have a good time in good time. There’s no single reason why a concert must end at 4 am. It’s simply unreasonable.
Olele Salvador
I will give this year Detty December a strong 7/10/. The three left have to do with on lack of innovation which I cannot entirely blame organisers because people were likely holding back over the election . But people did have fun and enjoy themselves. From the places I went to, patrons did have a good time.
I think the lounges may have taken business away from the clubs. Places like Twist, which would host people till late just like the other clubs mostly known for that, seem to have lost some number of their market to lounges like Frontback, Alleybar, Luna even Polobeach club itself seems to have contributed a shift in the nightlife scene. The lounges, often Pre-game spots, seem to have taken over the club markets.
Purchasing power has reduced across. Vendors are calculative; consumers try not to overspend unless they earn above the average income bracket. People have taken a step back on spending during the festive season, so they spend less or choose not to. On the innovation bit, we still have many of the experiences centred in Accra, which poses some challenges because we cannot distribute the experience beyond the borders of Accra.
I think the PR on Detty December was low this year. Perhaps the elections may have stalled the plans. Still, the noise around it through the various agencies like the Beyond Return and Office of the diaspora was not their usual self like in previous Decembers. We need to find a way to decenter everything from just Accra. The government must come on board and help fix some of the issues. Our tourist sites need to be fixed back into good shape. We need to fix the roads leading to these sites, and the roads are very poor, increasing traffic on our streets. Our artists need to be innovative. I would also like to see more activities outside of music and concerts. I feel those in authority know what to do. The opportunities are endless, and if we can do more infrastructure and systems, we can have more events and improve the experience.
Bryte Ashong-Katai
Generally, I felt Detty December was a good one for our sector, as it always had. Seeing acts trying to put up end-of-year events for fans has always felt great. A major defect of events I witnessed in December was security and organisation. Our event spaces in December have so many gaps that allow breaches and don’t safeguard acts and patrons. In cases where security personnel have tried to protect acts, it mostly comes at the expense of inflicting pain on consumers and patrons, who should be the priority. Going forward, I think the same priority should be placed on patrons as on artists.
Then recycling the same performance lineups and music policies at some points was also disappointing. Having artists feel the need to support each other had specific faces infiltrating every event platform.
As much as the support is laudable, it became disappointing since the performances of these acts were repetitive. Going forward, I hope for diverse performances that give patrons value for money
