Christmas in Ethiopia (2024)

FAQs

Christmas in Ethiopia? ›

The Christmas celebration in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is called Ganna or Genna. Most people go to Church on Christmas day. Many people take part in a special Advent fast during the 43 days before Christmas. It starts on 25th November and is known as the 'Fast of the Prophets' (Tsome Nebiyat).

The Christmas celebration in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is called Ganna or Genna. Most people go to Church on Christmas day. Many people take part in a special Advent fast during the 43 days before Christmas. It starts on 25th November and is known as the 'Fast of the Prophets' (Tsome Nebiyat).

Ethiopians believe that Jesus Christ, the spiritual leader of Christians, was born on January 7. This is because the 'Coptic Christians' (a term used to refer to indigenous Christian population in Egypt and the Middle East) use the Julian calendar of the Coptic Orthodox Church as against the Gregorian calendar.

Celebrate Christmas in Ethiopia

On Ganna you will notice that most people are dressed in shamma or netela — or a white cotton robe with brightly coloured stripes at the end. Priests will wear red and white robes and carry embroidered fringed umbrellas.

Ethiopian Christmas Day is a public holiday. It is a day off for the general population, and schools and most businesses are closed. Some Orthodox Christians visit a church to pray or reflect on inner thoughts in the lead up to the Orthodox Christmas Day.

It is not a very commercial holiday in Ethiopia. Few people had a Christmas tree, and those who did used a few branches which were decorated a few days before their Christmas day. The Christmas trees we saw were decorated with soft paper or cotton balls for snow, balloons, and pictures of Jesus.

Religion in Ethiopia consists of a number of faiths. Among these mainly Abrahamic religions, the most numerous is Christianity (Ethiopian Orthodoxy, P'ent'ay, Roman Catholic) totaling at 67.3%, followed by Islam at 31.3%. There is also a longstanding but small Ethiopian Jewish community.

The Ethiopian Calendar, also called “Ge'ez,” is seven to eight years behind the Gregorian Calendar. The main reason for this difference is that the Ethiopian Calendar places Jesus' birth in 7 BC (Before Christ) and begins its count from that point.

— see Manuscript #23, a calendar book in the Thomas Kane Manuscript Collection at the African and Middle East Division — and Adam was born 5500 years before the birth of Jesus who, according to the teachings of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, was born on January 7.

Timkat Festival (Epiphany)

Green, yellow, and red - the colours of the Ethiopian flag - paint the streets of this Christian country during their largest festival of the year: Timkat. As the Ethiopian celebration of Epiphany, it is an incredibly important and spiritual occasion for the people who live here.

Has it ever snowed in Ethiopia? ›

In Ethiopia, a nation celebrated for its varied terrains and climatic conditions, intermittent snowfall is observed in specific mountainous areas. The Simien Mountains, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, stand out as one such region where altitudes soar to surpass 4,500 meters (14,764 feet) above sea level.

(Merry Christmas in Amharic, Ethiopia's national language)

Meskel, one of the major Ethiopian Orthodox festivals is celebrated for two days beginning September 26th. Legend has it that in the year 326, Queen Helena (Empress Helen) the Mother of Constantine the Great, discovered the cross upon which Christ was crucified.

The Eve of Timket

Each Tabot is carried overhead by a high priest to the nearby body of water accompanied by thousands of church members chanting hymns. The celebration is also augmented by spiritual dancing (known as Shibsheba), drum beating, horn blowing, prayer stick waving and sistra rattling.