This weekend was “Timkat” which occurs 15 days after the Ethiopian Christmas. It is Epiphany and is a very important Christian Festival here. The Ethiopian church is very old and many of the beliefs and rituals are completely unique with a long history dating back thousands of years. The ceremony begins with a procession from each church carrying the replica Ark of the Covenent and proceeds to an open space – for Addis this is a large green park, for other towns an open space. There the priests spend the night till Sunday, and then baptise the faithful. On Sunday the festival continues and most churches return in the afternoon. However churches aligned with Saint Michael continue the ceremony for another day finishing on Monday.
