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The Virgin Festival in Swaziland (SWAZILAND)
Almost every year King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarch, chooses a new wife or wives at the “Reed Dance” ceremony within the Incwala Festival. Every year 20,000 topless virgins dance for him with the anticipation of being chosen as his next wife.
The annual Incwala “First Fruit” take place between December and January and between August and early September and they are generally thanks giving ceremonies to welcome both the first fresh fruit of summer and the New Year. Scores of young men from all corners of the country gather at the Royal Kraal at Ngabezweni and set out to collect branches of the sacred lusekwane shrub, a species of acacia. The branches are later used in the construction of the King's enclosure. Tradition holds that these men are supposed to have never slept with or impregnated a woman before. In the Reed Dance thousands of young maidens (all virgins) cut reeds which they bring before the King at the Ludzizini Royal Residence. It is in this occasion that the King selects his fiance therefore it is one of the benchmarks of the Swazi culture.
When we arrived at the Reed Dance Festival, it was a sight to see….. the area was packed with topless virgins (topless may seem as “she really is putting it out there” but in the Swazi and African culture the breasts are not considered erogenous, what is considered as erotic in their culture is the rear which is of course covered up), all adorned with flowers and reeds, lined up in front of the King, dancing and rejoicing.
This event is such an important event in Swaziland,
that journalists from all over the world come to experience it and then
write about it. (King Mswati’s extravagant life style and his
wife selection has been of a somewhat controversial story confronting
a lot of criticism in the western world).
Anyway the virgins danced, the King danced too in their traditional
costumes and in this case the King selected two wives.
Interestingly, we heard rumours that this festivity of wife selection, was just a traditional act, that as a matter of fact, King Mswati III, while a student in Oxford, England, fell in love with an English maiden called Catherine and built her a palace-like house in Swaziland. Of course these are only rumours we heard.