AN AFRICAN FESTIVAL
"INCWALA"

There are some small countries that are not known like Swaziland. The population is 1,032,000 inhabitants.
Swaziland borders on the North, South and West on Republican South African and on the East it borders on Mozambique.
The current king is Mswati III he appoints the ministers. In this country the life expectancy just only reaches 32,9 years and the poverty is very high. However they keep their festivals such as "INCWALA" that is the biggest and most intricate African Festivals of the year.
Incwala, or "festival of the first fruits" brings the country together to gain the blessing of ancestors, sanctify the kingshipand kick off the harvest season with a party. The two main celebrations are the little Incwala and Big Incwala.
The festival begins at" no moon" when people of the Bimaticlans or water people, trek to the Indian Ocean from Mozambique to collect the foan of the waves, which is believed to have mystical powers. For two days the people wear traditional outfits and chant Sacred Songs while the king remains in his Kraal.
Big Incwala begins at the full moon.It reflects the natury of the king. The first day young men walk over 25 miles to gather branchesof the sacred Lusekwane bush by the ligth of the full moon. If any of the men ever made love to a married woman or made young maiden pregnant, the branches will tell all. It is believed that leaves that touch his unpure hands will wither, and the pure people will beat him.
On the third day of Big Incwala, young men slaugther an ox and warriors perform the Incwala dance arond the enclosure where the king hides, begging him to emerge eventually the king returns to his peolpe.
He performs a Sacred dance, then eats the first pumpking of the harvest. Then the crowd do the same and it is okay to eat the first fruits with the blessing of ancestors.After a day of rest and meditation, the celebrants build a huge bonfire to burn articles representing the past year, including the king´s bedding and other house hold items.The people pray to their ancestors to bring rain to put out fire , and then the big celebrations of the new year starts, with feasts, singing and dancing.

Betty Castro