Festivals
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Habesha Christmas
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The festival is celebrated in every Ethiopian orthodox church but it is popular in Lalibela because God promised that any pilgrims going to Lalibela instead of going to Jerusalem at Christmas would get the same blessing. At this time, people from all over Ethiopia and from other countries crowd the town. Although many expect Christmas on the 25th of December, Ethiopia still retains the ancient Julian calendar in which Christmas falls on January 7th (of the Gregorian calendar.) It’s typically a hot summer day and people in towns and villages dress up in their finest to celebrate.
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The Ethiopian name given to Christmas is Ledet or Genna which, according to elders, comes from the word Gennana, meaning "imminent" to express the coming of the Lord and the freeing of mankind from sin. Genna is also the name given to a hockey-like ball game. Legend has it that when shepherds heard of the birth of Christ they rejoiced and started playing the game with their sticks. Men and boys in villages now play the traditional Genna game with great enthusiasm in the late afternoon of Christmas day, a spectacle much enjoyed by village communities and the elders who referee the game.
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Genna festivities begin early in the day, as early as 6:00am, when people gather in churches for mass. For the clergy it has begun much earlier, 43 days before, with the fasting period leading up to Genna. This pensive fasting period is required of the clergy and is known as the fast of the prophets. The fast of Advent is carried out to cleanse the body and soul in preparation for the day of the birth of Christ. Everyone stands throughout the worship service for up to three hours. The clergy and Debtera (scholars versed in the liturgy and music of the church) lift their voices in hymn and chant just as it has been for over 1,500 years when Ethiopia accepted Christianity. This ancient rite culminates in the spectacular procession of the Tabot (the Tabot is symbolic of the Ark of the Covenant) and carried on top of a priest's head. The procession makes its way three times around the church amidst ululation and chiming church bells, dazzling umbrellas and colorful attire of the clergy and Debteras (especially designated to accompany the Tabot) as well as a throng of Christians who follow the procession with lit candles.
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Afterwards, people disperse to their homes to feast and the clergy break their fast. Food and drink are plentiful, with many homes preparing the special meals characteristic of all big festivities highlighted on the Ethiopian calendar. Food served at Christmas includes Doro Wat and Injera, a spicy chicken stew eaten with the sourdough pancake-like bread. Often, tej, a local wine-like drink made from honey, accompanies the feast.
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Timkat / Epiphany
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Celebrating the Baptism of Christ, every January 19th (January 20 during leap year), Timkat is the greatest colourful festival of Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia. It celebrates the Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. Timkat is a three-day affair and all the ceremonies are conducted with great pomp. The eve of Timket is called Ketera. This is when the Tabots of each church are carried out in procession to a river or pool of water where the next day's celebration will take place. A special tent is set up where each Tabot rests as members of the church choirs chant hymns. This is accompanied by a special dance by the priests with their prayer sticks and sistera, the beating of drums, ringing of bells, and blowing of trumpets.
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The Tabotsymbolises the Ark of the Covenant and the tablets of the Law, which Moses received on Mount Sinai. It is the Tabot rather than the church building, which is consecrated, and it is accorded extreme reverence. When the Tabot is carried out, it is wrapped in brocade or velvet "like the mantle of Christ" and carried on the head of a priest with colourful ceremonial umbrellas shading it. The priests pray throughout the cold night and mass are performed about 2:00 am the next day. Near dawn, the people go to the water and attend the prayers. After the prayer, a senior priest uses a golden processional cross to bless the water and extinguishes a burning consecrated candle in the water. Then he sprinkles the water on the assembled congregation in commemoration of Christ's baptism. Many of the more fervent leap fully dressed into the water to renew their vows.
The Timkat ceremony is merely a commemoration, not an annual rebaptism. After the baptism, the Tabots of each church, except St. Michael's church, start their way back to their respective churches. The elders march solemnly, accompanied by singing, leaping priests and young men, the beating of staffs and prayer sticks recalling the ancient rites of the Old Testament (11 Sam.Chap.6)
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The next day, 20 Jan, is the feast of Michael the Archangel, Ethiopia's most popular saint. And it is only on this morning that the Tabot of St. Michael’s is returned to his church, also accompanied by the singing and dancing of priests and locals with their colourful dress. Thus ends the three-day celebration, a unique ceremony of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which evolved in relative isolation from the rest of the world. Timkat, truly is the most spectacular of Ethiopia's festivals.
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The best place to attend the event is Lalibela, Gonder or Addis Ababa. In Addis Ababa many tents are pitched in the grassy field at Jan Meda, to the northeast of the city center. At 2:00am, a mass is attended by crowds who have brought picnics to enjoy by the light of oil lamps. At dawn the priest extinguishes a candle burning on a pole set in a nearby river using a ceremonial cross. Some in the congregation leap into the river. The Tabots are then taken back to the Churches in procession, accompanied by horsemen, while the festivities continue.
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Meskel (The Finding of the True Cross)
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Meskel celebrations commemorate the discovery of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. The cross was found by St. Helena, mother of Constantine the Great. According to legend, in the year 326 AD Queen Helena went on a search for the true cross and was unsuccessful until she received help through a dream.In accordance with the dream, she made a bonfire and the smoke gave her direction to the spot where the cross was buried. To herald her success, Helena (known as NigistEleni in Ethiopia) lit torches. In the middle Ages, half of the cross was given to Emperor Dawit of Ethiopia by the Patriarch of Alexandria in appreciation of the protection offered to Coptic Christians. . For over 1600 years, Meskel has been celebrated every year on September 26 in Ethiopia and it is probably the most important festival after the Timkat. Marked with feasting, dancing and all kinds of merrymaking with bonfires and gun salutes, the occasion usually starts on the eve of Meskel with the planting of a green tree in town squares and markets. Long tree branches are tied together and yellow daisies called meskel are placed on top.The branches are gathered together in a bundle called demera and set ablaze by a procession of people – priests, students, etc. The people toss flaming torches, which they are carrying, at the demera, singing a special Meskel song as they circle it. Around individual homes, little demeras are built as well. The demera burns until it turns entirely into ashes. As it burns and collapses, the direction the demera falls is interpreted as a sign or portent. Rain is usually expected to fall to put out the fire and when it does, the year is expected to be a prosperous one. In most villages, the celebration continues through the night.
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Ashendye
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Ashendye is one of Ethiopia’s religious and cultural festivals. It is celebrated on August 24 after the fasting of Ashendye. Ashendye marks the end of a two week long fast known as Filseta when adherents of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church gather to honour the Virgin Mary. In the Khimra sect of Agew, Ashenda means the "tall green grass". It is estimated at around 80–90 cm minimum height that girls wear around their waists during the holiday. In the tradition of this religious festival, blades of grass are strewn on the floors of homes and shops as a kind of welcome mat. The festivity of Ashenda has no common name throughout the country. For instance, the ascension of Virgin Mary (mother of Jesus); see Dormition of the Mother of God.
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Hoyahoye / Yoyahoye
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This is one of the young boy’s festivals celebrated every new year which is 1st. September in the Ethiopian calendar. Buhe is a holiday in Ethiopia and Eritrea, held on August 19[ (according to the Gregorian Calendar; Nähase 13 Ethiopian calendar). On this date, the church celebrates the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor. People of the neighborhood tie a bundle of sticks together to make a chibo, and set it on fire while singing songs.[3] The main song is called "Hoya Hoye" with one singer singing while the others follow in a rhythmic way. It involves young boys singing songs of praise outside of people's homes, in exchange for fresh dough (itself called buhe).
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