The Rwandan government has declared a national holiday in regards to Harvest Day or “Umuganura” which is deemed a time of thanksgiving to celebrate a healthy harvest, an official disclosed in Kigali on .The announcement was made by James Vuningoma, the Executive Secretary of the Rwanda Academy of Language and Culture (RALC) which is affiliated to the Ministry of Sports and Culture.
According to the announcement, the new holiday falls on 1 August and is efficient .
“One of the main purpose of the celebrations is recognize the achievements in various sectors of the economy, recognize the efforts of those involved and strategize for increased harvest in the subsequent seasons,” Dr Vuningoma said.
For centuries, “Umuganura,” which loosely translates as the ‘ First Fruit Festival, ‘ has been an significant ceremony in Rwanda at the beginning of each harvest season, uniting the monarchy and its topics.
The traditional Umuganura’s focus was to offer the ancestors ‘ blessing to the harvest.
This would occur first at a family level centered on the ancestors of that family, then the community would come together for a larger celebration.
The Umuganura tradition was abolished by the colonialists in 1925, but revived in 2011.
