Tigrayan women celebrate Ashenda festival amid regional tensions

Hundreds of Tigrayan women and girls gathered in Addis Ababa to celebrate Ashenda, a traditional festival marking the end of the 15-day Orthodox Christian fast of Filseta. The celebration, featuring traditional habesha kemis dresses, intricate hairstyles, and music played on the kebero drum, serves as a symbol of female independence and emancipation.

While the festival is a cultural cornerstone for the Tigray region, as well as parts of Amhara and Eritrea, the festivities in the Ethiopian capital were marked by anxiety. Participants expressed deep concern regarding the potential for renewed conflict in the Tigray region. Despite a peace agreement following the devastating war between 2020 and 2022—which resulted in at least 600,000 deaths—tensions have resurfaced between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s federal government.