In Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia's Tigray region, a festival as old as memory — one that each year gives thousands of young women the rare gift of public joy — has been silenced not by decree but by dread. The Ashenda celebration of the Virgin Mary and of womanhood itself was cancelled this Saturday as drone strikes fell on the city and its surroundings, killing civilians and reviving the specter of a war that officially ended in 2022 but never fully released its grip. What is lost is not only a gathering, but the fragile sense that peace, once signed, might actually hold.
Ethiopia cancels Virgin Mary festival in Tigray over drone strike fears
Recent drone strikes in Tigray have killed at least four civilians and injured 13 others, prompting cancellation of a major cultural gathering.
An act that history will not forgive
Mark
Why cancel a festival over drone strikes? Couldn't they have moved it, held it somewhere safer?
Mimi
You could ask that, but the strikes aren't isolated incidents—they're a pattern, and they're recent. When you've just come out of a two-year war that killed hundreds of thousands, you don't take chances with a gathering of thousands of people in one place.
Mark
So this is really about the peace deal falling apart?
Mimi
The festival is the symptom. The disease is that both sides stopped trusting each other. The TPLF removed the interim government the peace deal created and brought back its own people. Now each side says the other isn't holding up their end of the bargain.
Mark
And the drones—who's flying them?
Mimi
The regional government blames the federal armed forces. The federal government hasn't said anything publicly. But the strikes are happening, and they're killing civilians. That's what matters to the people in Mekelle.
Mark
What does Ashenda mean to people there?
Mimi
It's one of the few times young women get to be themselves in public without restriction. They dress up, they dance, they're free. In a place that's been at war, that kind of freedom matters. Cancelling it is a way of saying: we're not safe enough to be free right now.
Mark
Is there any sense of when things might stabilize?
Mimi
Not really. The international community hasn't stepped in meaningfully. Both sides are dug in. The fear is that this is just the beginning of something worse.
O Pulso
- Drone strikes have killed at least four civilians and wounded thirteen others across Tigray in recent weeks, turning the skies above Mekelle from backdrop to threat.
- A festival that offered young women three days of dancing, braided hair, and public freedom — constrained in ordinary life — has been cancelled, its stadium stage left empty.
- The 2022 peace deal between the TPLF and Ethiopia's federal government is visibly unraveling, with both sides accusing the other of betrayal and the pre-war council reinstated in defiance of agreed terms.
- Tigray's regional administration is appealing urgently to the international community, calling the silence around the strikes unconscionable and warning that escalation may be imminent.
- The federal government has offered no public response to accusations that its forces are behind the attacks, leaving a vacuum where accountability should stand.
In Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia's Tigray region, a festival as old as memory — one that each year gives thousands of young women the rare gift of public joy — has been silenced not by decree but by dread. The Ashenda celebration of the Virgin Mary and of womanhood itself was cancelled this Saturday as drone strikes fell on the city and its surroundings, killing civilians and reviving the specter of a war that officially ended in 2022 but never fully released its grip. What is lost is not only a gathering, but the fragile sense that peace, once signed, might actually hold.
In Mekelle, thousands of young women will not gather this Saturday as they have for generations. The Ashenda festival — a three-day celebration of the Virgin Mary and of womanhood itself — has been cancelled. Regional officials determined that a mass gathering at the stadium was simply too dangerous, as drone strikes have been falling on the city and surrounding towns with lethal regularity.
Ashenda is no small affair. Young women from across Tigray and northern Ethiopia come dressed in their finest clothes, hair braided in the traditional way, to dance and play openly in public — a freedom otherwise culturally constrained. The name in Tigrinya means "the tall green grass," and over time the festival has grown beyond its religious roots into a celebration of cultural identity and womanhood. This year's stadium gathering was to be its centerpiece.
But Tigray is not at peace. The region endured a civil war from 2020 to 2022 that killed hundreds of thousands. The peace agreement that followed has since frayed: the TPLF removed the interim administration installed under the deal and restored its pre-war council, while both sides accuse each other of bad faith. The fear of renewed conflict, quietly held, is now widely felt.
The drone strikes have made that fear immediate. On Thursday, a strike hit Mekelle itself, injuring thirteen civilians and damaging homes. Days earlier, strikes near Dandera killed one person; on August 10th, three more died in Raya-Alamata district. Dori Asgedom, head of Tigray's culture and tourism bureau, announced the cancellation citing "ongoing drone strikes and the threat of war," calling Thursday's attack "an act that history will not forgive."
The regional administration has appealed to the international community to end what it calls their silence and act before escalation becomes irreversible. The federal government has not responded publicly. What remains is a region that survived one war now bracing for another — a place where even a celebration of women has become too dangerous to hold.
In Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia's Tigray region, thousands of young women will not gather this Saturday as they have for generations. The Ashenda festival—a three-day celebration of the Virgin Mary and, more broadly, of women themselves—has been cancelled. The decision came down to fear. In recent days, drone strikes have begun falling on the city and surrounding towns with enough regularity and lethality that regional officials decided a mass gathering at the stadium was simply too dangerous.
Ashenda is not a small affair. The festival draws young women from across Tigray and northern Ethiopia, many of them dressed in their finest clothes, their hair braided in the traditional way. For three days, they are permitted to dance and play together openly in public—a freedom that is otherwise culturally constrained. The name itself, in Tigrinya, means "the tall green grass," and the festival has evolved over time into something larger than its religious origins, a celebration of womanhood and cultural identity. Saturday's gathering at the stadium was meant to be the centerpiece of this year's observance.
But Tigray is not at peace, even though the guns fell silent four years ago. The region endured a civil war from 2020 to 2022 that killed hundreds of thousands of people. The fighting ended with a peace agreement between the Tigray People's Liberation Front and the federal government, but the agreement has frayed. Political tensions have mounted. The TPLF removed the interim administration that was installed under the peace deal and brought back its own pre-war council. Both sides now accuse each other of failing to honor the terms they signed. The fear, quietly stated but widely felt, is that the conflict could begin again.
The drone strikes have sharpened that fear into something immediate and concrete. On Thursday, a strike hit Mekelle itself, injuring thirteen civilians and damaging homes. Two days earlier, on August 18th, two strikes near Dandera—a town fifteen kilometers from the city—killed one person and wounded another. On August 10th, a strike in Raya-Alamata district killed three more. Dori Asgedom, who heads Tigray's culture and tourism bureau, announced the cancellation of Saturday's festival gathering by citing "ongoing drone strikes and the threat of war." He called the Thursday attack "an act that history will not forgive."
The regional administration has appealed to the international community to break what it calls their silence on the strikes and to take urgent diplomatic action to prevent further escalation. The federal government has not publicly responded to accusations that its armed forces are responsible for the attacks. What remains is a region that survived one war and is now bracing for the possibility of another, a place where a celebration of women and culture has been deemed too risky to hold. The question now is whether the fragile peace will hold, or whether the drones will become the opening notes of a conflict that never truly ended.
Citações Notáveis
The drone attack on innocent citizens in Mekelle city is an act that history will not forgive and should be condemned.— Dori Asgedom, head of Tigray's culture and tourism bureau
The international community must break their silence and take urgent diplomatic action to prevent further escalation.— Tigray regional administration
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War & Conflict