Ashenda

Ashenda is an annual Tigrayan festival celebrating women and girls. It's believed to have originated in Axum region of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia; scholars estimate it began around 400 AD. The festival takes place in August and mainly celebrated in Tigray and has been adopted in bordering regions of Tigray. Tigrayan women living throughout the world try to make it to Mekelle or in their respective village where the Ashenda festival takes place. Only women participate in the celebration while the men mostly play the role of gifters, in some cases protectors from potential harassment, as the younger girls travel door to door singing Ashenda songs and receiving gifts like money and traditional food made for the festival. The festival comes after the two weeks of Filseta. During Filseta, people fast or do not eat throughout the day. Filseta and Ashenda honor Mary, mother of Jesus.

In the festival, young women and girls wear white cotton dresses. These dresses have colorful embroidery, called tilfi. They also wear a lot of jewelry. They weave ashenda grass into a bunch and wear it on their backs or as a skirt. Ashenda, in the Tigrinya language, is a tall green grass that grows on river banks. Girls often wear five cornrows in their hair. They wear Kohl eyeliner.

On the first day, the girls gather in the middle of the town or village. Then, they break up into groups and walk through the town. They sing and dance for the people in every house and also in the village square. The people in each house give them money, food, drinks, or other gifts. The women and girls give these gifts to poor people. They sing and dance all day until sunset. This festival may last for a week or more.

Ashenda is thousands of years old. It existed even before Ethiopia became Christian, in the 4th century AD.

Celebration
Leading up to Ashenda, women and girls will prepare to adorn themselves with jewelry, dresses, henna, and diverse cultural hairstyles. On the first day of the festival, Ethiopian girls gather together and make the journey to their local Church of St. Mary (or any other Orthodox Tewahedo Church in the community), playing music and dancing. They then go around the entire village, expressing their thanks to each household in the community. The Ashenda girls spend around 20 minutes at each house, entertaining families and themselves, before being bid farewell, usually with gifts of money, food or drink. After the door-to-door celebrations, the girls find a suitable field in or near the village, spending a day to a week dancing and playing in the field while passing. Men are urged to provide gifts of money.

All money and gifts collected during the celebration are then donated to a charity, the Church, or other events.

Name
Ashenda is named after the long, thin ashenda grass girls tie to hang down from their waists in a fashionable pattern. The ashenda grass has come to symbolize the religious festival, as dancing girls move their waists, causing the leaves to shake in an eye-catching manner. The festival is also called "Shadey," "Maria," "Aynewari," "Ashendye," "Solel," and "Engicha."