Shashamane is the Rastafari capital of Africa and a fast-growing city.
- Visit the Banana Art Gallery to see acclaimed artist Ras Hailu Tafaim's art made from banana leaves, bark and flowers
- Shop for all the Haile Selassie memorabilia you could ever want
- Visit in December for the Reggae in the Rift Valley Festival
In 1948, Emperor Haile Selassie offered 500 acres of land in Shashamane as a gift to the people of African descent, particularly the African Americans who had supported the Ethiopian cause during the Italian invasion of 1935-41. The first Rastafarian arrived in Ethiopia in 1964, but it wasn't until after the fall of Ethiopia's Derg regime in 1991 that Rastafarians began to arrive in Shashamane in significant numbers. Today, there are an estimated 800 Rastafarians living in Shashamane, coming from places all over the world, and there are even some Ethiopian converts.
