Incwala

The Incwala is an impressive religious festival celebrated in December and January and lasting three weeks. It is a kind of fertility ceremony designed to prepare for the new year and as a symbolic renewal of the monarchy.

At the beginning of the celebrations representatives of the Bemanti people bring water from all the main rivers of Swaziland and foam from the sea, gathered at the new moon. Young men then build a royal kraal at Lobamba from branches of the lusekwana tree and other plants. The central ceremonies begin on the first night of full moon and last six days. On the "day of the bull" a bull is killed and offered as a sacrifice. The climax is reached on the following day, the "great day", when the king, clad in his finest robes, symbolically tastes the first fruits of the harvest and there is singing and dancing. On the last day all the ceremonial objects are burned as offerings to the rain gods.

Visitors are welcome at these celebrations except for certain parts of the ceremonies. Photography is not permitted.