Ethiopian New Year: How the country celebrates Enkutatash

While many of us celebrate New Year on 1 January, a number of countries around the world celebrate other dates like Chinese New Year (between late January and February), Nowruz (around the spring equinox), or Songkran (13 April).

In Ethiopia, the New Year – also know as Enkutatash – is celebrated in September, signalling the end of the rainy season.

Want to know more about Ethiopian New Year and how it’s celebrated? Read on…

Ethiopian New Year is held annually on 11 September, with the exception of leap years, in which case it is held on 12 September.

The celebration’s Amharic name, Enkutatash, means ‘gift of jewels’ and comes from the legend behind the holiday. The Queen of Sheba, from the Hebrew Bible, is supposed to have returned from her visit to King Solomon in Jerusalem on this date, and her subjects gave her gemstones as presents to mark the occasion.

Ethiopia’s rainy season typically runs between June and September, though most of the rain falls between June and August, leaving the landscapes a lush shade of green. The New Year is associated with the colour yellow, too, thanks to the adey abeba flowers which bloom at this time of year.

The night before Enkutatash, families will typically burn bonfires outside of their homes. On the day itself, young girls will go door to door singing the traditional song Abebayehosh, and handing out yellow flowers.

Typically, families will gather to eat doro wat, a spicy chicken stew, with injera, a spongy fermented flat bread you tear pieces from to scoop up food with, as well as tej, a honey-based wine.

Later on in the month, Ethiopia also marks Meskel, a religious holiday to celebrate the finding of the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified by the Roman Empress Saint Helena of Constantinople in the fourth century. Held on 27 or 28 September, the celebrations centre around a bonfire.

Read next: 6 unmissable food and drink experiences in Ethiopia