Ashendye or Ashenda is the name of a popular festival predominantly celebrated by girls and young women. It will is held in August, at the end of 15 days fasting of by members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church called Filseta.
Timkat is the greatest festival of the year, falling on 19 January, just two weeks after the Ethiopian Christmas. It is commemorates Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. The next day is devoted to the feast of St. Michael the Archangel. From the end of the rains in October, the country becomes increasingly dry and the sun blazes down from a clear blue sky, so the
Christmas (Gena) in Lalibela is beautiful; it is colorfully celebrated because King Lalibela was born in the same day of as the birth of Jesus Christ. Starting two weeks ahead of Gena, numerous peoples from every corner of the country undertake the pilgrimage to Lalibela to attend the ceremony and to get spiritual blessings. The number of foreign tourists is also unusually high at this time. During the official day
The Ethiopian New Year falls in September 11 or 12 in a leap year at the end of the big rains season. The sun comes out to shine all day long creating an atmosphere of dazzling clarity and fresh clean air. The highlands turn to gold as the Meskel daisies burst out in all their splendours. Ethiopian children clad in brand new clothes dance through the villages giving bouquets of
Saint Gabriel is the Patron Saint who guards over homes and churches. There is a huge pilgrimage at every December 28th to Saint Gabriel’s Church on Kulubi hill, which is on the route from Addis Ababa eastwards, about 70 kilometers before Dire Dawa. Many pilgrims carry heavy burdens as penance, children are brought to be baptized, and offerings are made to be distributed to the poor. – See more at:
Falls on November 30th, the festival, that is attended by tens of thousands of people from all over Ethiopia, making it one of the most joyous annual pilgrimages in Axum, the “sacred city of the Ethiopians” As the Virgin is one of the most venerated of all religious figures in Ethiopia, about 33 days are annually dedicated to different celebrations in the commemoration of Saint Mary. “Hidar Mariam Zion” is
The festival of Meskel has been celebrated in the country for over 1,600 years. The word actually means “cross” and the feast commemorates the discovery of the cross upon, which Jesus was crucified, by the Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great. The original event took place on 19 March 326 AD, but the feast is now celebrated on 27th of September. Many of the rites observed throughout the