Umhlanga (The Reed Dance)

Umhlanga is Swaziland's most well-known cultural event done every year late August or early September. It is an eight-day ceremony where girls cut reeds and present them to the queen mother and then dance. Only childless, unmarried girls can take part. Up to 40 000 girls take part, dressed up in brightly colored attire making it one of the biggest and most spectacular cultural events in Africa. The objective of the event is to preserve girls' chastity, provide tribute labour for the Queen mother, and to encourage solidarity by working together. A commoner maiden is appointed by the royal family to be "induna" (captain) of the girls and she announces over the radio the dates of the ceremony. She has to be a good dancer and knowledgeable on royal protocol. One of the King's daughters will be her counterpart. The Reed Dance today is not an ancient ceremony but a development of the old "umchwasho" custom.