#ASDailyScoop: Hawassa to host five million people as Sidama nation celebrates Fiche Chambalala
Addis Abeba – Fiche Chambalala, the Sidama people’s New Year festival that started to be celebrated today, will go on for two days and is expected to draw more than 5 million attendees from all throughout Ethiopia and overseas to Hawassa, capital of Sidama Region.
According to the city’s security bureau, federal and regional security forces are working collaboratively with the community to ensure the Fiche Chambalala festival is celebrated peacefully in Soressa Gudumalle square.
The festival runs until tomorrow, April 20, lasting for two days. Throughout the festival, communal activities, including songs and dances, are performed. It will be celebrated regardless of age, gender, and social status.
Last year, Sidama Regional State marked the first Fichee-Chambalaalla festival since Sidama state became an autonomous regional state following a referendum in November 2019. It was also the first public holiday since it was postponed because of the Covid-19 global pandemic.
In 2015, UNESCO inscribed Fichee-Chambalaalla on its “Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.” AS
