Kwahu Easter Paragliding Festival 2026 — Odweanoma Mountain Guide

Every Easter weekend, thousands of people climb the Kwahu escarpment in Ghana’s Eastern Region for one of the country’s most photographed events: watching — and often joining — tandem paragliders leap off Odweanoma Mountain and soar over the Afram Plains. The Kwahu Easter Paragliding Festival has grown from a small 2005 tourism experiment into a 21-edition institution, part adventure sport, part street festival, part homecoming for the Kwahu people.

When is the Kwahu Easter Paragliding Festival?

The festival runs annually across the Easter weekend — from Good Friday through Easter Monday — so its exact dates move each year with the Christian calendar. The 2026 edition, the 21st staging since the festival began, opened at Odweanoma Mountain in Atibie on April 3 and ran through April 6, under the patronage of President John Dramani Mahama and Tourism Minister Abla Dzifa Gomashie. In past editions, flights have run daily from mid-morning into the early evening across the festival’s multi-day window.

Where it happens, and how to get there

The festival is centered on Odweanoma Mountain, above the town of Atibie in the Kwahu South Municipal District — part of the Kwahu plateau, the escarpment that gives the wider Eastern Region its noticeably cooler climate. The gateway town is Nkawkaw, about 146km from Accra (roughly a 2-hour, 15-minute drive along the N6). From Nkawkaw, shared taxis and trotro climb the escarpment road to Atibie and the Odweanoma launch site; a hired taxi can also make the climb directly.

History of the festival

The Ghana Tourism Authority (then under the Ministry of Tourism) introduced paragliding to the Kwahu Easter calendar in 2005, after a tour of the Kwahu ridge convinced organizers that the escarpment’s updrafts and views made it a natural launch site. What began as a small demonstration has grown into one of the flagship events on Ghana’s domestic and diaspora tourism calendar, now drawing certified pilots from Ghana and abroad. The paragliding add-on sits inside a much older tradition: Kwahu Easter has long been a homecoming and church holiday for the Kwahu people, and the festival weekend is now a major economic weekend for hotels, transport operators, and vendors across Nkawkaw, Atibie, Mpraeso, Obomeng, and Nkwatia.

What to expect

• Tandem flights: You fly strapped to a certified pilot — local and international operators both take part — with a safety briefing and equipment check before every flight.
• The flight path: Pilots typically launch from Odweanoma and soar over Obomeng, Mpraeso, and Nkwatia before landing at Nkawkaw Sports Stadium.
• The views: From the summit you can pick out the Oworobong, Butuase, and Oku-Abena waterfalls, the Kotoso and Amartey rock formations, and the Buruku inselberg near Kwahu Tafo. A viewpoint at nearby Abetifi looks out over the Afram Plains.
• Beyond the flying: Street carnivals, live concerts, an all-night party scene, cultural durbars, food bazaars, and Made-in-Ghana exhibitions run alongside the flights each day.
• Other adventure add-ons: Several tour operators package cave hiking and zip-lining in the surrounding hills alongside the paragliding for a fuller adventure day.

How much does a flight cost?

A tandem flight is not free, and the price has climbed with demand. The 2025 festival charged GHS 1,350 per flight (GHS 1,250 for early-bird bookings made before the end of March); the 2026 edition raised it to GHS 1,500 per person. Flights are sold on-site, and in recent years the Ghana Tourism Authority has also promoted advance online booking — worth arranging before you travel, since the most popular flight windows sell out on the festival’s peak days.

Where to stay

Rooms across the escarpment towns fill up fast in the days before Easter. Hotels used by past festival-goers include Rock City Hotel at Nkwatia (a 300-room, 4-star property), Freedom Hills Hotel (Nkwatia), Modak Royal Hotel (Pepease), Rojo Hotel (Nkawkaw), Wags Hotel (Obomeng), Ohene Nana Klassic (Mpraeso), and Nyarkoa Ba Nyarko Royal Hotel (Obo). Nightly rates across these properties typically run GHS 250–1,200, and many book out months ahead of Easter.

Practical tips for visitors

• Book your flight slot and your room well ahead of Easter — both sell out.
• Pack layers. The Kwahu plateau sits noticeably cooler than Accra.
• Build in extra travel time — the escarpment road gets congested during the festival’s peak days.
• Flights depend on weather and wind, and can be paused for safety at short notice.
• Kwahu Easter is also a solemn church and homecoming holiday for the Kwahu people alongside the street celebration — expect both sides of that during the weekend.

For visitors, Kwahu Easter offers something Ghana’s other festivals don’t quite match: an actual adrenaline rush timed to a cultural calendar, in a part of the country most first-time visitors never see. Pair it with a stop at nearby Boti Falls or the Volta Lake attractions around Akosombo, and you’ve covered the best of the Eastern Region in one trip.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

When is the Kwahu Paragliding Festival held?

Every year over the Easter weekend, from Good Friday through Easter Monday; exact dates move with the Christian calendar. The 2026 edition ran April 3–6 at Odweanoma Mountain.

Where exactly does the paragliding happen?

On Odweanoma Mountain, above the town of Atibie in the Kwahu South Municipal District, Eastern Region. The nearest large town is Nkawkaw.

How much does a paragliding flight cost?

GHS 1,500 per tandem flight for the 2026 festival, up from GHS 1,350 in 2025. Prices are set each year by the Ghana Tourism Authority and its flight operators.

Do I need experience to paraglide at Kwahu?

No. Festival flights are tandem — you fly strapped to a certified pilot who does the flying — and operators run a safety briefing before every flight. No prior paragliding experience is required.

How far is Kwahu from Accra?

About 146km to Nkawkaw, roughly a 2-hour, 15-minute drive along the N6, followed by a climb up the escarpment road to Atibie and Odweanoma.

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