Kantamanto Comes Alive: Obroni Wawu October 2025 Celebrates Thrift, Creativity and Community

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Rawlings Park was bursting with color, creativity, and community spirit as Kantamanto Market and Ghana’s vibrant thrift and upcycling community came together to celebrate OWO Day 2025, the grand finale of Obroni Wawu October (OWO). Now in its fourth year, OWO Day has become a cornerstone event in Accra’s cultural calendar, honoring the innovation, strength, and artistry of the people who power one of the world’s most dynamic secondhand economies. This year’s theme, “Kantamanto! — a celebration of the community's strength and resolve,” captured the spirit of a market rising from the fire in unity and growth, ready to lead as a global hub for textile circularity.

Obroni Wawu October (OWO) is more than a festival. It is a celebration of Kantamanto’s culture of innovation and creativity, an acknowledgment of the market as a globally leading hub for reuse, repair, upcycling, and remanufacturing. It serves as a bridge between Kantamanto and Accra’s thriving online thrift scene, building community and solidarity across the city. At its heart, OWO exists to celebrate the skills and talent of Kantamanto’s workers while creating spaces for education, empowerment, and joy. The movement envisions a future where Kantamanto is recognized and empowered as a cultural landmark for creativity in circularity.

A Month of Celebration, Connection, and Climate Action

Starting in July, Kantamanto-based upcycling practitioners participated in OWO School, a four-month intensive educational program and upcycled fashion accelerator. Created with Kantamanto upcyclers and a team from The Or Foundation, the program provided a cohort of 20 selected upcyclers with resources, workshops, professional career guidance, coaching, networking, and retail opportunities. Over the months, participants engaged in sessions led by local and international experts covering secondhand material transformation, de-westernization of creative processes, remanufacturing techniques, and brand development. The 2025 theme, “The Flavor of Upcycling,” guided the creation of seven collaborative collections that explored stories of pleasure, resilience, and creativity. All successful participants showcased their upcycled collections at OWO Day.

Throughout October, The Or Foundation, in collaboration with the Kantamanto Obroni Wawu Businesses Association, Kantamanto Women’s Association, and Kantamanto Upcyclers Association, curated a rich lineup of events that brought the community together under the banner of sustainability and solidarity.

The festivities began on October 4 with the OWO Beach Cleanup, organized in partnership with The Tide Turners, a cooperative working with The Or Foundation to tackle textile waste along Accra’s coast. Together with members of the Kantamanto community, The Or Foundation staff, and volunteers from the public, they diverted an impressive 29 tons of waste from the ocean, a powerful statement on environmental responsibility and collective action.

On October 11, the focus shifted to Kayayei Night, an evening dedicated to the women who work as head porters in Kantamanto Market. With over 420 kayayei in attendance, it was a night of storytelling, sisterhood, and strength, a reminder of the human spirit that drives the circular economy.

On October 19, the OWO Block Party took over Kantamanto’s Shoe Yard, transforming it into a lively celebration in collaboration with Kantamanto Traphouse, a viral collective of thrift vendors and musical artists from within the market. The Shoe Yard, home to the first edition of OWO in 2022, was the perfect setting to pay homage to Kantamanto’s legacy and invite the wider Accra community to experience its creative pulse.

The Grande Finale: OWO Day at Rawlings Park

Culminating on the last Sunday of October, OWO Day 2025 was the biggest celebration yet, a dazzling showcase of thrift, upcycling, and sustainable fashion. Vendors, upcyclers, and artisans from Kantamanto and beyond displayed one-of-a-kind pieces that ranged from the wildly experimental to the beautifully timeless. The market featured 35 thrift and upcycled fashion vendors, all sourcing from or based in Kantamanto, and 15 food vendors, creating an atmosphere of vibrant creativity and flavor.

Fashion took center stage, not just on the racks but in the crowd itself. The Drip Contest, hosted by Joseph Nti, gave attendees the chance to strut their most creative thrifted and upcycled looks, competing for the coveted title of Best Dressed. The Talent Show added another layer of excitement, with performances that celebrated Kantamanto’s raw creative power. This year’s winner walked away with a prize of 2,000 cedis, while the crowd cheered on every dancer, singer, and performer who took the stage.

Music, Joy, and Community

If anything was in abundance, it was talent, style, and joy. The night’s headline performances kept the energy high, featuring McAldhan, last year’s OWO Talent Show winner, a thrift seller in Kantamanto, a member of Kantamanto Traphouse, and the founder of Plug A Star (@plugastar). He shared the stage with powerhouse acts Iveth Stunner, RCee, and Joey B. Their performances underscored the deep connection between Kantamanto’s fashion, music, and cultural innovation. The entire show was hosted by Kojo Junior.

A Movement Growing Stronger

What began as a grassroots celebration has grown into a movement that centers the voices, creativity, and labor of Kantamanto’s community while challenging global fashion systems to reckon with their waste. OWO 2025 was spearheaded from The Or Foundation's side by Sammy Oteng and Nirvana Safo, whose leadership and dedication continue to shape the future of ethical fashion and community empowerment.

Pulse Ghana and Cove Media served as official media partners for Obroni Wawu October 2025.

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