There are a number of fantastic festivals in Ethiopia throughout the year. If you’re lucky enough to be traveling during these celebrations, it’s well worth shaping your itinerary to pass through the right places at the right times. Our expert bookings team will take care of this for you.
Timiket in Ethiopia
This is a brilliant start if you want an active holiday, getting involved with lively cultural holiday with the locals.
Timiket is celebrated throughout Ethiopia so anyone can experience the holiday wherever they are staying. Timkat festival marks the baptism of Jesus.
Join thousands of Ethiopians to celebrate the religious festival of Timket in the city of Gondar, beginning on the eve of Timket, commonly known as Kettera, with awe-inspiring processions.
Timket is celebrated every January throughout the country. But many consider Gondar to host the best experience with the crowds following the Tabot, Timket combines both holy ritual and exuberant displays of chanting and dancing from the crowds, especially from rowdy groups of young men.
Gonder is a town in the north of the country known for its famous great castles and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Timiket festival is the most colorful in the country and everyone gets involved in the celebrations. It is also unique to Ethiopia, celebrated on 19 January, or 20 January during leap years.
In Gonder, in Lalibela, in Axum and Addis Ababa, the festival is particularly spectacular. The streets are adorned with green, red, and yellow to represent the Ethiopian flag, and priests walk through the streets holding colorful and richly decorated umbrellas.
Fasika – Ethiopian Easter
In Ethiopia, Easter is called Fasika and it is celebrated following specific traditions directly related to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Ethiopia can be regarded as an open-air Christian museum. It is the only country where Christianity deposits its two thousand years of tradition and history where biblical teaching gets the truest application. Fasika is one of the biggest Christian celebrations in Ethiopia were visitors from outside of the country also come to join the celebration.
Ethiopian Easter is
conducted in remembrance of the fasting, suffering, and crucifixion of Jesus. A fascinating all-night prayer is available at all Orthodox Churches. Addis Ababa, Axum, and Lalibela churches are particularly special.
Hidar Tsion
This is colorfully celebrated every year on Hidar 21 (November 30) at every church dedicated to St. Mary. The day is observed with special fervor particularly in Axum Tsion where the Ark of the Covenant is housed safely.
In the 4th century, Axum was considered to be one of the four great powers of the ancient world.
The ceremony at Mariam Tsion sees pilgrims from all over the country come to express thanks after the fulfillment of a wish.
Hossana Palm Sunday
The Sunday one week before Easter is the Hosanna, known as Palm Sunday. It commemorates the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem when palm branches were placed in His path. It marks the beginning of Passion Week, the final week of Lent.
It is celebrated countrywide but Lalibela has a colorful procession with world-first class rock churches for Hosanna which is worth visiting both.
Meskel – The Find of The True Cross
The Meskel Holiday falls during the beginning of the Ethiopian spring and this makes it very colorful. This vibrant national holiday has been observed throughout the country by Ethiopian Christians. The word Meskel means, Cross and the feast commemorates the finding of the True Cross by St. Helena.
On Meskerem 16 (September 26th), in the cities, villages, and the surrounding areas, people bring torches of twigs called ‘Chiboʼ and wood to ‘Meskel Squareʼ, to form the ‘Demeraʼ (bundles of branches of wood and things). Tall branches are tied together and yellow daisies, popularly called Meskel flowers, are placed on top before the bonfire is lit. Lalibela, and Axum, is lit the Demera on the 17th morning. However, in Addis and in some other places, it is lit on the evening of the 16th.
The priests perform prayers in front of the Demera and sing, the Demera followed by a huge procession which circles it singing.
Christmas in Ethiopia
The name given to Christmas is Ledet or Qiddus Bale-Wold meaning the coming of the lord and the freeing of mankind from sin. It is also named Genna and is celebrated on January 7th.
An important Ethiopian holiday, Ganna is celebrated throughout Ethiopia so anyone can experience the holiday wherever they are staying. Most people of Ethiopia across the country who wish to see the most important Christmas ceremonies in Ethiopia are traveling to the holy city of Lalibela.
Lalibela is a town in the north of the country known for its churches cut into the rock and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Pilgrims descend on Ethiopiaʼs “new” Jerusalem. It is one of Ethiopiaʼs holiest cities, second only to Aksum, and a center of pilgrimage.
The reason that makes it very special in Lalibela is, it is the birthday of Saint King Lalibela. pilgrims celebrate the birth of Jesus and Saint Lalibela at the same time.
Some people travel hundreds of kilometers to get there on foot. And they have been doing it for several centuries. The local people and tourists
gathering from all over the world to attend the breathtaking celebration and to get the blessings from our savior.
Ethiopian New Year
Enkutatash is the First Day of the Ethiopian year. Each year in the Ethiopian calendar is named after one of the four Evangelists: St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John. The naming of the years repeats itself in a four-year cycle as the Evangelists are four.
This public holiday in Ethiopia is celebrated on September 11th unless it is a leap year in the Ethiopian calendar, in which case it is celebrated on 12 September.
The Ethiopian New Year also marks the transition from the heavy rain season to the bright one. It is symbolic of
the passage from an awe-inspiring night into a beautiful morning. New Year is also an occasion for exchanging gifts and good wishes among Ethiopians.
The entire month of Meskerem is a time of blissful happiness.
On New Year, a special service is held in every Ethiopian Orthodox church. When the day`s holy mass comes to an end, the chief priest in each church reads the calendar of the year and the calculations used. The mathematical system used for calculating the times of festivals and the beginning and end of the fasting days during the year is called
Bahire Hasab
The story goes back almost 3,000 years to the Queen of Sheba of ancient Ethiopia who was returning from a trip to visit King Solomon of Israel in Jerusalem. When the Queen returned to Ethiopia her chiefs welcomed her with ‘Enkuʼ or jewels to replenish her treasury.
Yellow daisies known as “Adey Ababa” are used to decorate homes, coffee ceremonies.