eSwatini Tourism has confirmed the dates of the 2022 Umhlanga Reed Dance. The biggest cultural event in eSwatini is set to start on 30 August 2022, with the main day (Day 7) set to take place on 05 September 2022. It will be on this day when the main ceremony occurs, with the dancing attended by King Mswati III. 05 September 2022 will be a public holiday in eSwatini.
Tourists visiting the annual Reed Dance are allowed to take photographs on Days 6 and 7 (main day) – as the maidens walk to deliver the reeds to the Ludzidzini Royal Residence in Lobamba, and then as they dance in the main arena.
The Reed Dance ceremony, also known as "umhlanga", is a centuries old tradition where the eSwatini's unmarried and childless females present their newly cut reed to the Queen Mother to protect her residence. The highlight of the event is the reed-giving ceremony. Tens of thousands of maidens from eSwatini, led by Swazi princesses, gather at the Queen Mother's royal village, the Ludzidzini Royal Residence in Lobamba, dressed in traditional attire; bright short beaded skirts with colourful sashes revealing their bare breasts to dance and sing and celebrate the unification of the Kingdom’s women. King Mswati lll, who sometimes makes use of the occasion to publicly court a prospective fiancĂ©e, joins the celebrations to pay tribute to the maidens.
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