Bolgatanga Central Market is the beating heart of the Upper East Region — a sprawling, open-air trading hub in the heart of Bolgatanga (affectionately "Bolga"), the regional capital, and the single most famous centre for hand-woven baskets and straw crafts in all of Ghana. The market is best known for its **Bolga baskets** — sturdy, colourful, leather-handled baskets woven from *veta vera* (elephant grass), which grows in the savannah around Bolgatanga. The craft is traditionally dominated by women weavers, and the baskets have become one of Ghana's most recognisable export crafts, sold across West Africa, Europe and North America. Beyond baskets, the market overflows with straw hats, fans, *batakari* (smocks), leather goods, calabashes, shea butter, groundnuts, millet, guinea fowl, and the famous *pito* (millet beer) culture of the north. Trading days are the market's lifeblood. Bolgatanga's market runs on a **three-day cycle** tied to the traditional calendar, with the biggest crowds on *Bolgatanga Da* — the main market day — when traders pour in from Bongo, Navrongo, Zebilla, Sandema and across the border from Burkina Faso and Togo. It is a genuinely cosmopolitan Sahelian crossroads: you hear Gurune (Frafra), Kasem, Bissa, Dagbani, Hausa, French and English in the same aisle. For visitors, the market is the anchor of any Upper East itinerary — most craft-buying happens in the dedicated basket section, and prices are negotiable (bargain respectfully, in good humour). It pairs naturally with the **Paga crocodile ponds** and the **Paga-Nania slave camp** about 40 km north, the **Sirigu** mural and basket-weaving village to the east, and the **Tongo Hills** and **Whistling and Smock Weavers** at Gambibgo just outside town. A word of practical advice: go early in the morning for the best selection and coolest temperatures, carry small cedis for bargaining, and if you're buying baskets in bulk, arrange transport in advance — a full set of Bolga baskets fills a boot fast. As the Akan say, *"Onipa firi soro besi a, obesi onipa kurom"* — a person comes from the sky, but they settle in someone's town. Bolgatanga's market is exactly that: a place where the whole Sahel comes down to settle, trade, and weave beauty out of grass.