Festival · Festivals & Events
Ashenda
Held in late August at the end of the Filseta fast in honour of the Virgin Mary, Ashenda fills the streets with colour, song and dance.
- Best Time
- Late August
- Suggested Stay
- 2 to 3 days
- Altitude
- 2,000 to 2,500 m
- Region
- Festivals & Events
Why We Go
A celebration of girls and young women in the towns of Tigray and Amhara.
Ashenda takes its name from the tall green grass that girls tie around their waists for the celebration. Homes and shops are decorated with fresh grass as a sign of welcome.
Young women dress in their finest traditional clothes, decorate themselves with jewellery and gather to sing, dance and drum through the streets, celebrating youth, beauty and cultural identity.
Highlights
- Girls in embroidered dresses with braided hair
- Skirts of tall ashenda grass worn at the waist
- Singing and drumming from house to house
- Known as Shadey, Solel and Ashendye in different regions
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