Ethiopian New Year

As the cold and rainy nights of Addis Ababa give way to warm and sunny mornings, there is a sense of excitement in the air. Grassfields become covered with a beautiful coat of daisies that are called Adey Abeba . These small, yellow flowers which are regarded as a symbol of hope and renewal, blossom towards the end of the rainy season. It is the beginning of a New Year: Enkutatash is here.

The seasonal context

Enkutatash is the cultural amharic name for the Ethiopian New Year, a holiday which is celebrated throughout the country on the 11th or 12th of September. Ethiopia is one of the few countries that uses a native, non-gregorian calendar. The Ethiopian calendar is quite similar to the Coptic one, however it is made up of twelve months of 30 days as well as an additional month of five (or six days in a leap year). Regarding the seasonal context of Enkutatash, it comes right at the transition period between the heavy rainy season of Kiremt and the harvest season of Tsedey. Furthermore, it is the start of a long festive period with a total of five holidays (Enkutatash, Mesqel, Mawlid, Genna and Timket) held over the next six months. Suffice to say that Enkutatash is a highly anticipated holiday.

Ethiopian new year observances

Gregorian Year	Ethiopian New Year date
2021	September 11
2022	September 11
2023	September 12
2024	September 11
2025	September 11
2026	September 11
2027	September 12
2028	September 11
2029	September 11
2030	September 11

A special time for the children

The symbol of a flower, the ideas of hope and renewal are deeply embedded in Enkutatash. The youth is particularly involved in the New Year celebrations. The young girls go around neighborhoods dressed with colorful traditional dresses, clapping and chanting along to a drum. The song is called Abebayehosh. As for the boys, they go from door to door handing out drawings that announce the New Year. The young children are rewarded by a piece of bread, or more commonly these days, a little bit of money.

The culinary practices

Meanwhile, it is a busy time for every household’s kitchen. The women are in charge of cooking tasty traditional dishes such as doro wet, q’ey wet and alecha. Doro wet is a particularly appreciated delicacy in Ethiopia. It is a spicy chicken stew with boiled eggs which is served with injera, a flat bread. Along with it, a variety of traditional alcoholic drinks are prepared, the main ones being t’ej and t’ela. T’ej is a honey wine whereas t’ela is more of a teff- or sorghum-based brew. On the other hand, the men are mainly responsible for slaughtering the animals as well as preparing the meat.

The coffee ceremony

A proper Ethiopian New Year celebration is not complete without the coffee ceremony. The centerpiece of any coffee ceremony is the jebena (clay coffee pot) along with the rekebot (traditional coffee table set). As the family gathers in the living room, some freshly cut grass (qetema) is laid on the floor. The room is filled with a gentle haze as the frankincense is burned. A wonderful blend of the frankincense and the coffee roast sets the scene for a warm, joyful ceremony.

Overall, the Ethiopian New Year is a great time to experience a moment of true unity. A unique holiday, where all ethnic groups unite in the name of hope and new beginnings.

Ethiopian 2017 new year wishes and messages in Amharic

• አዲሱ ዓመት የሰላም የፍቅርና የመተሳሰብ ይሁንልን። መልካም አዲስ ዓመት።
• ያሰብነው የሚሳካበት፣ ያቀድነው የሚሰምርበት ዓመት ይሁልን። መልካም አዲስ ዓመት።
• ከዓመት ዓመት ያድርሰን፣ መልካም አዲስ ዓመት።
• 🥂☆ መ࿚ል࿚ካ࿚ም ⭐ አ࿚ዲ࿚ስ ⭐ ዓ࿚መ࿚ት ☆🥂
• ይህ ዓመት ከሁሉም ምርጡ እንዲሆንላቹ፤ ማለቂያ የሌለው ደስታና ግቦቻቹ ሁሉ የሚሳኩበት እንዲሆን እንመኛለን።
• ህይወት አጭር ናት ትልቅ ህልም እናልም እና በ 2017 ምርጡን እናግኝ!
• መልካም አዲስ ዓመት! ብንራራቅም ግን ሁሌም በልቤ ውስጥ ነህ።
• ብዙ ኪሎ ሜትሮች ብንራራቅም በዓሉን በመንፈስ ከእናንተ ጋር እናከብራለን። መልካም አዲስ ዓመት!
• አዲሱ ዓመት ቤትዎን በደስታ ፣ ልብዎን በፍቅር ፣ ህይወትዎንም በሳቅ ይሙላው። መልካም አዲስ አመት እየተመኘን እና በ2017 እርስዎን ለማየት በጉጉት እንጠብቃለን።
• አዲሱ ዓመት የሰላም፣ የጤና የብልፅግና ይሁንላችሁ!
• እንኳን አደረሳችሁ፤ አዲሱ ዓመት የሰላም፣ የጤና፣ የብሩህ ተስፋና የስኬት እንዲሆንልዎ እንመኛለን።