[Photos] Ethiopia's Oromos celebrate, protest, mourn at Irreecha 2017

Ethiopia’s ethnic Oromos peacefully celebrated the Irreecha festival, an annual thanksgiving festival which takes place every October 1.

It takes place in the town of Bishoftu – located about 45km away from the capital Addis Ababa. The 2017 edition happened to be the first since a deadly chaos that marred the 2016 celebrations.

Oromos from around the country gathered for the celebrations. They mourned loved ones who died in the 2016 stampede whiles others defied ‘no politics’ rule to chant anti-government protests.