Spring festivals represent celebration of the transition of the season that are associated with the integral aspect life which depends on the seasonal change time where the gloomy rainy season or “kiremt” leaves for the sunny beautiful summer day. The sunny season instills happiness which is expressed by happy thanksgiving like celebrations those take place among different ethnic groups of the country.
As we explore different spring festivals carried out in the country, we will also try to explore the traditional hand-woven Ethiopian dressings that accompany the season within this article and many more to come in the series, stay tuned with us at ethiopianclothing.net as we wonder through our country’s unique moments that define the very source of our identity and pride.Ashenda or Shadey is a one very colorful celebration that mainly takes place in mid-August in northern Ethiopian areas of Tigray and Amhara states, Agew area where it is called Ashenda and Shadey respectively. The festival is also celebrated in areas of Wollo called Raya and Kobo where it is called (solel). The festival has also other names in parts of Tigray such as Ayniwari in town of Axum and mariya in the town of Adigrat.
The day is also celebrated in neighboring country Eritrea which shares very similar traditions with the above areas of the northern Ethiopian regions which showcases beautiful green flowery traditional Eritrean dresses being worn by the girls who celebrate the day.
The event marks the end of two week fasting or known as (tsome filseta) to honor Virgin Mary of Zion by Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Christian faith followers. That is why it is said holiday of the girls where they go around singing and dancing in groups adorned with their beautiful cultural Habesha kemis (Ethiopian and Eritrean traditional dress) around their towns and cities collecting gift from strangers for three days.
“The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It’s the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows & the beauty of a woman only grows with passing years.”
And that is what you see during the Ashenda or Shadey festival – the happiness of the girls, one that can only be felt by seeing it not reading about it. So, I highly recommend being a part of it at least once in a lifetime.
The title Ashenda denotes the water channel system that is used to pass water off the roof of a house to the ground while Shadey is a tall grass that grows during this season in the above mentioned areas. You can see some of the girls having the grass tied around their waist as they sing and dance. As it is the end of the rainy season and the beginning of spring, you might call it Ethiopian spring break festival.
There are also other festivals during this season celebrated by other ethnic groups of Ethiopia such as the Irreecha, and Fichee-Chambalaalla festivals celebrated by Oromo and Sidama ethnic societies of Ethiopia respectively, which they adorned themselves with their traditional attires, ornaments and other beautifying objects.
Ashenda or Shadey is a much underrated cultural event which can become a world heritage for girls around the world in which the day is dedicated to girls and young women only where the rest of the people stand and appreciate their efforts in adding colors to boring day to day life.
If one may ask what about the boys do they have any holidays? The answer is yes; and they do have and it is called “buhe” or “Debre Tabor” another spring celebration which marks Gods sign of light on top of the Mount Zion for his people in despair. This holiday is also celebrated around the same time of the year the Ashenda is celebrated. They actually differ by few days, as the girls and the boys also would dress up in there “Ejetebabs” which is Ethiopian cultural clothing for men and would go around the neighborhoods singing and chanting praising the people where they are given gifts such as traditionally baked bread called “mulmul” or money.
On the eve of the day, the boys would sing their song “Hoya Hoye, Buhe Belu” all day and; as the sun goes down another exciting part of the event, that is the bonfire ceremony to remember the light God cast on top of Mount Zion. The boys would run around the bonfire singing and cheering ‘Hoya Hoye’ sometimes accompanied by firecrackers.
All these spring festivals lead the main holiday of the season the Ethiopian New Year, ‘Enkutatash’ another grand event which will be celebrated all across the nation which is also a legacy of the country’s unique calendar system devised by ancient scholars. This is too a moment where everyone would set out to receive it in their new Ethiopian traditional clothing.
The word Enkutatash is heavy with symbolism as it not only means the ‘gift of jewels’ but also represents the end of the rainy season – the time of year during which the Ethiopian landscape is covered with bright yellow flowers called Adey Abeba.
Source: https://ethiopianclothing.net/blogs/news/ashenda-shadey
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 26 AUGUST 2022
