Ethiopia, home to 75 nations, nationalities and peoples, is adorned with numerous cultural festivals that are celebrated throughout the year. All the nations, nationalities and peoples have their own cultural values they mark them warmly and colorfully. One of the notable festivals is the Dishta-Gina festival, which is celebrated by the Ari community, in the southern part of the country.
Recently, the Ari community celebrated their New Year celebration, Dishta-Gina festival, in Jinka Town of South Ethiopia State. The festival, which preaches peace, love, and unity among human beings and promotes togetherness, is celebrated every year from mid-November to the beginning of December.
The New Year festival marks a bright transition from the old year and seeks to bring new achievements to the Ari community.
On the occasion, South Ethiopia State Chief Tilahun Kebede expressed his best wishes to the people of the Ari nation.
He said that the people should promote their asset of togetherness and contribute to the State’s durable peace and development, adding that, the festival promotes togetherness and unity among brothers and sisters where the festival itself is a festival of love and unity.
Moreover, this festival is a New Year festival that enhances the value of sharing and loving others. The holiday also ignites hard work among the Ari community beyond preaching togetherness, love, and helping each other, he said.
In addition, the State’s intangible cultural heritages including Dishta Gina embrace significant contributions for mutual development, peace, and togetherness. Therefore, residents of the State should work hand in hand to expedite the State’s development and ensure sustainable peace through countering all odds.
“We should strive more to realize the national socio-economic development endeavors through promoting strong work habits and strengthening mutual cooperation,” he said.
On his part, Ari Zone Chief Administrator Abraham Atta said that the Dishta Gina Festival has immense value; beyond a transition to a New Year.
“The Dishta Gina Festival is a festival of arbitration, reconciliation, and peace where ill-treatments end peacefully. The festival is also a core value where members of the community utilize this opportunity to forget revenge and grudge and transit from the old to the New Year. Thus, the cultural assets of the Dishta Gina Festival will have a significant role in the national peace and reconciliation building process.”
So far, the zone has been striving to inherit this wonderful New Year festival of the Ari nation to future generations without losing its values and to be registered in the prestigious list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In doing so, intellectuals are required to fulfill their part in promoting this cultural festival to get recognition by UNESCO, he added.
While speaking at the event organized here in Addis Ababa, in relation to the Dishta-Gina festival, under the theme “Culture for Peace, Brotherhood, and Development,” Culture and Sports Minister Shewit Shanka said that Dishta-Gina festival embodies important values and activities vital for fostering peace and unity. “Such public festivals are essential and deserve our support,” she stated.
The Minister also highlighted the potential of cultural festivals to attract both local and international tourism, contributing to the growth of the tourism sector.
She advocated for the proper documentation, preservation, and promotion of the Dishta-Gina festival to ensure it is passed down through generations, expressing her commitment to collaborate with the community for the country’s development and peace.
President of Jinka University and a member of the Ari community Prof. Gebre Yintiso also said that the festival serves to bridge gaps among people. “The Dishta-Gina festival marks the New Year for the Ari Community in the Ari Zone of South Ethiopia. It is a celebration of peace and togetherness, emphasizing the need for peaceful resolution of differences,” he articulated.
The festival also included a communal meal shared with low-income members of the community, showcasing traditional dishes that reflect the heritage of the Ari people in an exhibition.
According to the tradition of the Ari nation, Dishta Gina is mainly performed by the fathers where they give blessings for the New Year to bring peace, love, and harmony. They also said that it is the festival of change of era that they celebrate by saying goodbye to the old year and looking forward to welcoming the new one.
Dishta Gina is a traditional New Year celebration that contains humanistic ideas such as empathy, mutual aid, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Thus, it has great benefits in terms of strengthening social cohesion and other cultural values of the community.
The social values of the festival include giving thanks, helping each other, expressing love, bringing peace, strengthening solidarity, and maintaining cleanliness and beauty in society. The festival is annually celebrated with great zeal as it is done to welcome the new era with peace and hope by getting rid of the fragments and hates of the past.
Currently, various activities are being carried out as the observance and preservation of the festival is of great importance for the strengthening of peace and development. Wide promotion of the festival is one of the tasks being undertaken by pertinent stakeholders. Dishta Gina festival is celebrated in various traditional ceremonies in the Ari zone including Jinka town, South Ari, North Ari, Woba Ari, and Baka Dawla Ari Woredas from November to December.
What is more, pertinent stakeholders are expected to contribute their part in the efforts of promoting such festivals that promote togetherness and peace in the country. The community and cultural and tourism experts should also contribute their part to protect and promote this festival.
The Cultural Policy of Ethiopia published in 2016 by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism also indicated that the cultural identity, diversity, and manifestation of a country’s nations, nationalities, and peoples are significant resources for their members and the foundation for their social personality. In order to develop the cultural professions and enable them to contribute to national development, it is essential to establish the necessary supportive institutions and working procedures. To this end, developing the capacity of their human, material, and financial resources and creating the conditions that enable them to work in coordination with counterpart institutions is important.
Accordingly, it is necessary to protect these against destruction and to develop and strengthen them for sustainable development. Just as it had created the civilization of the past, culture is expected to serve today’s development efforts and shape tomorrow’s generation.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), cultural festivals such as Dishta-Gina play a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of a given community by attracting both local and international tourists and stimulating local economies. They also serve as a platform for promoting cultural diversity and heritage.
In sum, Ethiopia is among the leading countries with diversified cultural assets and has more than 80 nations, nationalities, and people that have colorful cultural festivals. The festivals being celebrated by respective nationalities enable well inherited to the future generations. Thus, more attention should be given to such festivals and intangible cultural assets to develop tourism.
BY TEWODROS KASSA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 13 DECEMBER 2024
