Roasting beans crackled, and smoke curled inside the Adwa Victory Memorial Museum, on Eden St., when the second festival on the traditional coffee ceremony turned the Addis Abeba landmark into a living map of ritual.

Coffee here was more of a treat than a drink. Poured from clay "jebenas" into thimble-size cups, it mediates neighbourhood quarrels and seals business deals. Proponents of a holiday argue that an official date, like Japan’s Green Tea Day or Argentina’s Mate Day, would codify the social practice and attract tourists. Understandably, sceptics retort that symbolism alone will not fatten farmers’ wallets.

The festival, dubbed “Coffee for Peace,” cast the brew as a diplomatic asset. A panel of scholars, entrepreneurs and officials weighed coffee’s soft-power potential and the lattice of small enterprises, such as spice grinders, potters and roasters, largely run by women. One of these was Saada Juri, a volunteer who tended the coal stoves in embroidered cotton dresses. She is proud of the unique coffee culture across the country and hopes to gain international recognition for it.

Staged by Warka Coffee and the Culture & Arts Bureau of the Addis Abeba City Administration, the event doubled as a campaign. Organisers urged Parliament to declare a "National Coffee Culture Day" and paperwork is underway to nominate the ceremony to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage roster within two years.

The inaugural festival was held in 2023, but financing glitches postponed the sequel. Crowds returned undeterred. By mid-morning last week, the courtyard was shoulder-to-shoulder, queuing at 11 stands, each curated by a different community and its snacks, "buna kurs" in the local parlance. Those bites (bread, roasted grains, sweet potatoes and qolo) turn coffee into a drawn-out meal that forces conversation. Organisers reminded visitors that the snack was no garnish but an equal partner, balancing bitterness and sweetness while inviting hospitality.

Exhibitors from Afar Regional State opened with murfe flatbread and ginger-laced coffee. Arbaminch followed with sweet potatoes and "d'ata" bread served amid dance lessons. Raya displayed a tall-necked "Brele" beside mashela, popcorn and ambasha. Sidama offered kocho, while three zones from the Oromia Regional State (Arsi Negele, Shewa and Bale) poured beans from Jimma to show internal variety. Two mothers in bright yellow shawls ladled coffee with kolo. Exhibitors from the Benishangul-Gumuz State brewed a thick and spice-rich cup flavoured with cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. Those from the Amhara Regional State poured coffee as women spun cotton around platters of teresho flatbread, and the Gambella Regional State capped the circuit with "kewa," a roasted corn-peanut mix served beside a clay dake pot.