Swaziland’s annual Reed dance starts with a tragedy, 11 women die on their way to the festival ..Read What the ceremony is all about Swazi police say 11 young women and two men died in a road accident over the weekend. This contradicts media reports that the number was as high as 65. An advocacy group, the Swaziland Solidarity Network, put the death toll at 38. Police say four trucks transporting scores of young women to the traditional Umhlanga Reed Dance collided on Friday. Eighty-one people were admitted to hospital and most have since been discharged
Umhlanga was created in Swaziland in the 1940s under the rule of Sobhuza II. He adapted the ceremony of the festival from the umcwasho ceremony, that is another old cultural practice in Swaziland. Only maidens, who reached the age of marriage and preserved their chastity, participate in the Reed Dance ceremony.
Reed Dance is mostly a private ceremony. The first five days of the festival are spent for organizations and preparations. The first dancing ceremonies begin in the afternoon of the sixth day. The dancing ceremony is continued on the next day, when it’s attended by His Majesty the King. Also starting from this day the visitors of the country may watch Umhlanga.
The last day of Reed Dance is marked with the slaughter of cattle (usually 20-25). Every maiden gets a peace of meat and goes home.
The last two days of Umhlanga are public holidays in Swaziland. Every year the exact dates of the festival are appointed, according to the ancestral astrology.
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