Ethiopia's Virgin Mary festival in Tigray cancelled over drone strike fears

What the report says

A major Ashenda festival gathering in Mekelle, the main city in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, has been cancelled because organisers feared it could be hit by drone attacks, according to Nile Post’s reporting. The event was meant to be the centrepiece of the three-day celebration, which honours the Virgin Mary and is widely observed as a cultural festival for girls and young women in northern Ethiopia.

The newspaper said the planned stadium gathering on Saturday was called off by Dori Asgedom, head of Tigray’s culture and tourism bureau, who cited ongoing drone strikes and the risk of renewed fighting. Ashenda traditionally draws large crowds of young women dressed for the occasion, with music, dancing and public celebration forming an important part of the holiday.

Nile Post reported the decision against the backdrop of fresh security concerns in Tigray, a region still recovering from the 2020-2022 war that ended with a peace agreement in 2022. Regional officials have accused federal forces of carrying out recent drone strikes, while the Ethiopian government had not publicly responded to those allegations in the cited material.

The cancellation underscores how fragile the security situation remains in Tigray, where political tensions have risen this year and both sides have accused each other of failing to fully implement the peace deal.