Alabaster Box lights up Edinburgh Fringe Festival with ‘Sounds from Gold Coast’

Ghana's leading acapella quartet, Alabaster Box, is set to be the toast of this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland with their act dubbed "Sounds from Gold Coast".

The hour-long package, which a is mix bag of the group's Afroppella songs and anecdotes about Ghanaian cultures, is slated for two-weeks at the Fringe Festival and another two weeks in various churches in London.

The group kicked off the act on Saturday, August 4, 2018, with a thrilling performance, complemented by their Fugu costume from the Northern Region of Ghana.

Prior to the opening act at the historic Saint John's Church stage, the group had a meet-the-press session with leading Scottish media houses such as The Scotsman, The List, Fringe Review, Three Weeks, Broadway Baby and others.

One of the audience who witnessed the opening act, commented: "This is a brilliant performance that should be on a much bigger stage than this."

The leader of the group, Samuel Dowuona, said the Fringe Festival always presents a great opportunity for the group to showcase Ghana in a unique way.

"In 2015 when we first went to the Fringe our act was dubbed 'Afroppella' and it was designed to introduce our typically Ghanaian style of acapella to the patrons. This time around, we want to tell them more about our country through our music and anecdotes," he said.

Sammy noted that the millions of patrons at the Fringe, coupled with the millions more that get to watch the various acts online, presents a great opportunity for Ghana's culture and tourist attractions to be showcased.

"We are doing our bit and we believe initiatives like ours should be supported by corporate Ghana to make it easier for us to attend such festivals and showcase the country's cultural heritage and unique potentials," he said.

He added that Ghanaian traditional footwear manufacturer, Toetalk Shoes was the only company that supported the group to the Fringe "and this does not speak well of corporate Ghana's commitment to such laudable causes."

According to him, while at the Fringe, the group would also engage extensively in their typical evangelistic ministry in collaboration with Carrubbers Christian Centre to win souls for Christ.

He revealed further that once the Fringe is over, the group will move to London, where it will minister to various churches and institutions before returning to Ghana early next month.