Eswatini’s Reed Dance Is More Than a Festival. It’s a Living Solution.

By conserving wetlands and mentoring girls, the ceremony shows how heritage can be a force for sustainability.

When Tradition Takes Root

The Umhlanga Reed Dance began in the 1940s, during the reign of King Sobhuza II, who ruled Swaziland for 82 years. Born from the older Umchwasho ritual, the ceremony took on a new form under his leadership and has since endured colonial rule, modernization, and globalization without losing its core. Few traditions manage to stretch across centuries while adapting to such pressures, yet the Reed Dance has done so with striking resilience.

Every year, tens of thousands of young women walk barefoot and bare-chested through the valleys of Eswatini, carrying bundles of reeds taller than themselves. The reeds are not just plants gathered from wetlands; they carry meaning. They speak to the challenge of protecting the environment while meeting community needs, of preserving identity while living in a modern world. Watching them march, chant, and dance together, one sees both a performance and a practice that still feels alive, not a relic staged for cameras.

The Umhlanga is not only a cultural celebration but also a mirror of the country’s dilemmas. Reeds depend on wetlands, yet those ecosystems face degradation. The ceremony honors women, yet questions persist about whether all participants feel free to choose. Tourism brings income, but it can also turn ritual into spectacle. These are real tensions that cannot be ignored, and they. . .