Cruise guests will have a rare opportunity to attend the Festival of Akwasidae in Ghana next March as part of Silversea Cruises’ latest land tour.

Offered as part of a new six-day, pre-cruise ‘Accra & the Ashanti Kingdom’ land tour before Silver Cloud’s 16 March 2016 West Africa voyage, the centuries-old festival is held within the walls of the royal palace in Kumasi. It is presided over by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the 16th ruler of the Ashanti people. During the ceremony, griots tell stories of past Ashanti rulers while drum and ivory horn players accompany traditional dance performances.

“In addition to being an amazing journey, this unique programme provides our guests with the exclusive opportunity to participate in the Akwasidae Festival in Kumasi,” said Darius Mehta, Silversea’s vice president of air and land programmes. “Like all of our overland adventures, this exciting programme has been hand-crafted to enhance our guests' experiences ashore, and to provide them with cultural immersion opportunities that would simply not be possible otherwise.”