Addis Ababa, October 3, 2026 (FMC) — There is a distinctive beauty in Ethiopia when the rains begin to retreat. The skies open, the sunlight returns, the highlands remain covered in fresh green growth, and the first yellow Adey flowers begin to punctuate fields and hillsides. The landscape appears transformed after months of rain, mud and clouded skies, heralding the arrival of a brighter season.
For millions of Oromo people, however, this transformation signifies far more than the passage from one season to another. It marks a deeply meaningful time of thanksgiving, when communities acknowledge the blessings of the season just completed and turn their hopes toward the one ahead. This is the season of Irreecha.
The annual celebration draws people from towns and rural communities across Ethiopia, as well as Oromo communities abroad, toward rivers, lakes and other customary ceremonial places. They arrive carrying fresh green grass and flowers, wearing traditional garments and ornaments that express heritage, identity and a sense of belonging.
Irreecha is experienced through participation: through prayers and blessings, songs and dances, family reunions and collective thanksgiving. The ceremony brings together spiritual and cultural expressions that have continued across generations.
Its seasonal foundation is inseparable from Ethiopia’s natural environment. The rains replenish rivers, lakes, farmland and grazing areas, sustaining the resources on which communities depend. Their retreat, while welcomed for the clearer skies and improved conditions, marks another important transition in the agricultural and cultural calendar.
Among the most recognizable signs of this transition is the Adey flower. Its yellow bloom against the green landscape and blue sky has become closely associated with the changing season and the sense of renewal that accompanies it.
For the Oromo, this seasonal turning point provides an occasion to thank Waaqa, the Creator, for life, rainfall, fertility and the blessings that sustain communities. The observance reflects a close relationship between human life, the natural environment and the Creator.
Thanksgiving, however, is accompanied by anticipation. Participants also pray for peace, health, prosperity, productive harvests and wellbeing in the season ahead. Irreecha thus brings together remembrance and expectation: appreciation for what has been received and hope for what is still to come.
At Hora Finfinne in Addis Ababa and Hora Arsadi in Bishoftu, the principal gatherings assume a particularly expansive character. People begin arriving early, often after long journeys, with families travelling together, friends reuniting and younger generations accompanying elders.
The ceremonial grounds become a striking presentation of Oromo cultural artistry. Traditional garments, ornaments, hairstyles and accessories display the distinctive craftsmanship of different communities. White clothing is prominent, alongside elaborately decorated traditional dress.
Women appear adorned with Caaccuu, beads and other ornaments, while many carry Siinqee, a culturally significant symbol associated with Oromo women’s identity and social role. Across the gathering, clothing and adornment demonstrate skills and traditions transmitted from one generation to the next.
The green grass and flowers carried by participants are likewise integral to the ceremony. They represent the living landscape and form part of the customary expression of thanksgiving.
As participants approach the water, songs and chants accompany the movement. Women offer devotional calls, including “Maariyoo, Maareyoo,” while collective singing and prayer create an atmosphere in which contemporary participants remain connected to generations who observed the same traditions before them.
The visual richness of Irreecha is therefore inseparable from its cultural meaning. The garments, ornaments, songs and ceremonial practices are carriers of knowledge. Through them, heritage remains something lived and practised rather than something confined to historical records.
Water occupies a central place in the ceremonial landscape. Irreecha Malkaa takes place around rivers and lakes, while Irreecha Tullu is associated with hills and mountain tops. The major gatherings at Hora Finfinne and Hora Arsadi have become important occasions for large numbers of participants from Ethiopia and beyond.
At the water’s edge, traditional and spiritual leaders guide the rites as participants offer prayers, songs of praise and thanksgiving. Fresh grass and flowers are placed in the water according to customary practice, giving tangible form to gratitude for the blessings of the Creator and the abundance of nature.
The prominence of water carries an evident significance. It sustains life, nourishes crops and pastures and supports the natural systems upon which communities rely. In a country where seasonal rainfall remains closely connected with agriculture and rural livelihoods, water occupies an especially important place in collective life.
Yet the ceremony expresses a relationship extending beyond the natural resource itself. It brings together people, the Creator and the environment that sustains them, allowing participants to acknowledge what they have received and seek blessings for what lies ahead.
Abbaa Gadaas and Abbaa Malkaas guide important aspects of the customary observance, while spiritual leaders undertake their respective ceremonial responsibilities. Their participation provides continuity between established practices and the present generation.
Women, elders and young people are particularly important to that continuity. Women take prominent roles in processions and songs, while their use of Siinqee reflects traditions associated with dignity, solidarity and women’s place in community life.
Elders and traditional leaders carry knowledge of the rites and customary practices, guiding younger participants and helping ensure that those traditions remain understood rather than merely observed.
Children and young people learn through participation. They encounter the garments, songs, ceremonial responsibilities and communal practices directly, developing their own connection with traditions inherited from earlier generations.
This is how much cultural knowledge is transmitted: through repeated participation within families and communities. A song learned from an elder, an ornament prepared for the occasion or a blessing heard during the ceremony can become part of the next generation’s cultural memory.
Irreecha consequently provides a meeting point between generations. Those who gather inherit a tradition shaped over time, while simultaneously becoming its custodians for the generations that follow.
The celebration also carries values of peace and reconciliation. It creates an occasion for renewing relationships, forgiving grievances and strengthening bonds among relatives, neighbors and wider communities.
Within Oromo cultural tradition, thanksgiving is closely associated with goodwill, harmony and the rejection of hatred and revenge. The celebration therefore provides an opportunity to reflect not only on the season that has ended but also on relationships and conduct in the season ahead.
Reconciliation requires a willingness to listen, recognize differences and rebuild relationships. Irreecha provides a collective setting in which these values can be expressed through prayer, blessing and shared participation.
Although distinctly Oromo in its identity and origins, the celebration also attracts Ethiopians from other cultural communities. Their participation creates opportunities to encounter Oromo traditions, share in the hospitality surrounding the occasion and appreciate cultural expressions different from their own.
This wider participation does not alter the character of Irreecha. Instead, it creates a space in which Ethiopia’s cultural diversity can be encountered through direct human interaction and mutual appreciation.
Irreecha forms part of the broader cultural heritage of the Oromo people and is closely connected with the Gadaa system, the indigenous Oromo system of governance and social organization. UNESCO inscribed the Gadaa system on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016, recognizing its significance as a system of community knowledge, leadership and social organization.
The continuing observance of Irreecha illustrates how cultural heritage remains alive through practice and transmission. Its traditions are carried into contemporary life by the people who continue to celebrate them, teach them and pass them to younger generations.
Modern forms of communication have also widened the visibility of these cultural expressions. Photography, film, digital media and cultural exhibitions allow traditional garments, music and ceremonies to reach audiences well beyond the places where they are practised. Artisans, designers, musicians and other creative practitioners likewise contribute to their transmission to new generations.
Irreecha has also become an important point of interest for cultural visitors. Those who attend encounter traditional dress, music, dance, ornaments, food and forms of hospitality that provide insight into Oromo cultural life and craftsmanship.
Its significance for visitors rests on the fact that it is a living community tradition rather than a cultural performance created solely for an audience. The ceremony derives its meaning from the people who observe it, the knowledge they preserve and the relationships renewed through it.
For visitors from abroad, Irreecha offers an opportunity to encounter Ethiopia through the cultural experiences of its people. The garments, songs, flowers, grass and ceremonies provide an introduction to a heritage whose full meaning is found through participation and understanding.
As the celebration concludes and participants return home, its seasonal cycle continues. The rains have receded, the Adey flowers signal Birraa, and the landscape enters another phase.
Yet what remains from Irreecha is not only the memory of a celebration. Its enduring themes are gratitude for life and nature, continuity between generations, renewed relationships and hope for the future.
The flowers and green grass embody thanksgiving; the prayers seek blessing; the gathering reinforces belonging; and the emphasis on peace and forgiveness recalls the importance of harmony within communities.
For the Oromo people, Irreecha remains a cherished expression of identity and gratitude. For Ethiopia, it stands among the country’s distinctive living cultural traditions. And for visitors encountering it from abroad, it offers a window into a cultural practice in which nature, spirituality, community and generational continuity come together.
Each year, as Ethiopia emerges from the rains into clearer skies and the Adey flowers return to the landscape, Irreecha renews the same fundamental cycle: giving thanks for what has been received, seeking blessings for what is to come, and welcoming the new season with hope.