The annual Ashenda festival, a significant cultural event for women and girls in Ethiopia's Tigray region, has been canceled due to fears of escalating conflict and ongoing drone strikes. The three-day festival, which commemorates the Virgin Mary and celebrates womanhood, was scheduled to include a large gathering in a stadium in Mekelle.
Dori Asgedom, head of Tigray's culture and tourism bureau, announced the cancellation, stating that the event could not proceed because of "ongoing drone strikes and the threat of war." He condemned a recent drone attack on Mekelle that injured 13 civilians and damaged homes, calling it an act "that history will not forgive."
Regional officials reported that drone strikes near Dandera, about nine miles from Mekelle, on August 18 injured one person and killed another. An earlier strike in the Raya-Alamata district on August 10 resulted in three deaths.
The Tigray regional administration has called for the international community to condemn the attacks and take diplomatic action to prevent further escalation. This comes amid renewed political tensions, raising concerns about the potential restart of conflict. In 2022, a peace deal was signed between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government, ending a two-year war that was estimated to have caused hundreds of thousands of deaths. However, both sides have accused each other of failing to uphold the agreement. The TPLF recently removed an interim administration established under the peace deal and reinstated its pre-war council, further raising regional instability.
The Ashenda festival is eagerly anticipated by young women in Tigray and other northern Ethiopian regions. Traditionally, during the festival, girls and young women dress up, style their hair, and are given the freedom to dance and play together, activities often restricted at other times of the year. The cancellation deprives them of this unique cultural and social outlet.