Girls in Tigray, Amhara and Addis Ababa marked Ashenda, the late-August festival also called Ashendiye and Solel, with traditional hairstyles, dress, songs and dances in 2019, borkena reported.
A girl dressed for the Ashenda festival in Tigray, photographed on August 23, 2014. (Rod Waddington / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0) [file photo]
The festival follows Buhe on Aug. 19, which marks the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor in the tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the news site said. Households bake a special bread called mulmul, light small bonfires, and children go from house to house singing for bread or coins.
The Tigray regional government staged a large celebration at Mekelle Stadium under the motto “Ashenda an example for peace, unity, and development,” Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported, according to borkena.
President Sahle-Work Zewde flew to Mekelle for the event and was received at Alula Aba Nega Airport by the regional president, Debretsion Gebremichael. “The respect given to girls on the occasion of Ashenda need to be for all women and throughout 365 days of the year,” she said in a speech at the stadium, adding that “culture is not restricted by a political boundary.”
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not attend but sent his good wishes for the holiday, borkena said. Tens of thousands of people traveled to Tigray from other parts of the country for the celebration, which also drew tourists.
In Amhara region, the festival is celebrated across many zones, and regional president Temesgen Tiruneh and other senior officials traveled to Sekota for the celebrations, according to the report. In Addis Ababa, Transport Minister Dagmawit Moges attended in traditional dress.
The largest Ashendiye celebration in Amhara was due in Bahir Dar the following weekend, with a UNESCO team expected to attend as Ethiopia worked to register the festival as cultural heritage, borkena reported, citing the Amhara Mass Media Agency.
Sources: borkena (Aug. 22, 2019)