A Fun Weekend in Kumasi: Old Friends, Family Time, and Rapperholic 2026!

What a fun weekend in Kumasi! I’ve done all the usual tourist activities in Kumasi on previous trips, but this visit wasn’t about sightseeing. It was about reconnecting with old friends, spending time with family, good home cooked Ghanian food and experiencing a little more of everyday life in Ghana. It turned out to be a jam-packed Saturday followed by a much more low-key Sunday, recovering after spending most of the night and early morning at Rapperholic 2026. But more on that later!

I stayed in a hotel just about a block from Asubonteng's house.  For $43 a night I had a room with a king-sized bed, kitchenette, air-con, nice sized bathroom and included room service breakfast. Can beat that.

Catching Up with Old Friends

The main reason for my visit was to spend time with my friend Asubonteng and his family. Asubonteng is currently doing his residency in Kumasi, and I’ve known him since 2013, when he was working as a physician assistant at the BMC.

It had been a long time coming, but this was my first opportunity to meet his sons Sarpong (6) and Yaw-barima (4), and it was great to spend time getting to know them. There was also a little surprise waiting for me: Asubonteng’s wife had given birth to their third son, Nkrumah (named after Ghana’s first president) just a week earlier!

Yaw-barima and Sarpong

In northern Ghana where his wife is from, people don’t always talk openly about a pregnancy or even acknowledge it until the baby has arrived. There’s a cultural belief that talking too much about a pregnancy before the birth might somehow bring bad luck or something could happen to the pregnancy. So, sometimes, you simply don’t hear anything until the baby is already here!  Needless to say, it was a lovely surprise to meet their newest addition to the family.

Saturday Morning at EB Mall

Saturday morning was all about entertaining the older boys, so we headed to the EB Mall, which has a kids’ ride area.

The kids train, these are opportunities that kids in America have all the time, but these boys have never been on any rides like these before, so it was a very special outing for them. 

I think the boys enjoyed themselves overall.  There was a train, mini priate ship, trampoline area and carousel.  Although there was one ride that definitely didn’t go according to plan: the mini Ferris wheel!  Honestly, even I was surprised when it started moving. I remember thinking, Wow, that is going really fast for a kids’ ride!

The boys clearly agreed with me because they immediately burst into tears. It didn’t take long before we decided enough was enough and asked the operator to stop the ride after just one rotation!  So much for a fun Ferris wheel experience! 😂

The boys were too small to steer these along so they made us ride on the back!  We also did bummer cars which was enjoyed.

Thankfully, the rest of the outing went much more smoothly. We grabbed some pizza for lunch before heading back home to relax for the afternoon and to have dinner. Asubonteng's mother came over and it was nice to see her again.

It was a fun way to spend time together, and it was great getting to know the boys a little better.

Rapperholic 2026: A Concert That Goes All Night!

Then came Saturday night, and the real adventure began.

Asubonteng and I headed to Rapperholic 2026, one of Ghana’s biggest annual music events, organized by Sarkodie, Ghana’s most famous rapper and songwriter. The concert took place at Baba Yara Sports Stadium, and it promised to be a night to remember. Little did I know just how long that night would turn out to be!

When we arrived around 9pm.  The stadium filled up slowly over several hours.  I think it was probably completely full around midnight.

I had been told beforehand, “Hey, it will go all night, but let’s just go for a few hours and enjoy ourselves.”

Sounds reasonable, right?

Well, apparently, my definition of “a few hours” and the Ghanaian concert schedule are two very different things!  I certainly wasn’t expecting to leave the concert at 4 a.m.!

And here’s the crazy part: the entire concert didn’t finish until around 8 a.m. So, I suppose I actually got off easy by leaving a few hours early.

Sarkodie didn’t even take the stage until around 3:30 a.m. Let that sink in for a moment. THREE-THIRTY IN THE MORNING!  I’m not sure what I find more surprising: the fact that the headliner came on at that hour or the fact that 80,000 people were still there waiting to see him. The video below is when he took the stage.

And the energy at the concert? Absolutely insane at times!

The crowd was singing and dancing along to the music, and the lineup included everyone from new and up-and-coming artists to some of Ghana’s biggest names. One of the fun things was that you never really knew who was coming up next. When a well-known artist finally took the stage, the entire place would practically explode!

Suddenly, everyone was on their feet, singing along to the familiar songs and dancing like there was no tomorrow. The noise level was incredible. At times, it was so loud that I found myself wishing I had brought a pair of earplugs.

Of course, I was already sticking out like a sore thumb as the white girl in the stands who couldn't dance, so I figured adding earplugs to the mix might have been pushing things a little too far. I probably would have gotten myself expelled! 😂

Still, it was an amazing experience to witness. The excitement was infectious, and you could see just how much the music meant to the crowd. It was about more than simply watching artists perform; everyone was participating, singing, dancing, and celebrating the music together.

That said, I was more than happy to call it a night at 4 a.m.!

A Much Quieter Sunday

After such a busy Saturday, Sunday was naturally a little more relaxed. We spent the day hanging out at home, taking it easy.

Some afternoon football after my energy levels had recovered and it was a bit cooler outside!

Another friend, Baby, came over to visit, and it was great to simply spend time together. We chatted, played games with the boys, and enjoyed a laid-back day with no real agenda. After all the excitement of the previous day, it was nice to slow down, catch up with friends, and just enjoy the moment.

Hanging with Baby and baby Nkrumah

And then, before we knew it, the weekend was over! It was time to head to the airport and catch my flight back to Accra.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend in Kumasi. It was also a reminder that some of the best travel experiences aren't about where you go or what you see, but about the people you spend time with and the unexpected memories you make along the way. Sometimes, the most memorable trips are the ones where you step away from the usual tourist attractions and simply spend time with good friends.

Kumasi, it was great to be back. Until next time!