Timkat

The travel warning first

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advises against all travel to the Amhara region. Gondar, where the best-known Timkat ceremony is held at the Fasilides Bath, and Lalibela are both in Amhara. The FCDO's advice, updated on 7 October 2026, also advises against all travel to Tigray and Gambela, and to parts of Afar and Oromia, including the A3 road through North Shewa and the Wollega zones along the Addis Ababa to Gambela road.

Check your own government's advice and your insurer's wording before you book anything north of Addis Ababa. The rest of this page covers the celebration itself. Jan Meda in Addis Ababa, the other place visitors watch it, is not among the areas the FCDO names.

The three days

Timkat commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan. It falls on 19 January, or on 20 January in a leap year, so in 2027 it is Tuesday 19 January. UNESCO inscribed it on its list of intangible cultural heritage in 2019 and says hundreds of thousands of people take part on the festival day.

The eve, Ketera, is 18 January. People escort their parish church's tabot, a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, to a pool, river or reservoir where the water will be blessed. A priest carries it, wrapped in cloth, on the head. The night is spent in prayers and hymns, with a large mass early in the morning.

On the 19th the water is blessed before sunrise and sprinkled on the congregation. Some people immerse themselves to renew their baptismal vows. At about 10am each tabot starts back to its own church in a procession with traditional and religious songs, which UNESCO calls more colorful than the earlier ceremonies. On the 20th, in Addis Ababa, St Michael's tabot goes home.

Jan Meda, Addis Ababa

Jan Meda is a large open space in the north-east of Addis Ababa used for sports and religious festivities, and its name means field of His Majesty. The main Timkat celebrations are held here. Capital Ethiopia, an Ethiopian newspaper, described the 2019 eve: priests carried the tabots to the field and the laity escorted them in the late afternoon, with the tabot leaving its church around 2pm. Many people spend the night near the large tent that houses the tabot, praying, singing and eating, and a special mass is held early in the morning.

Visitors can watch the singing and traditional dancing, the priests' drumming and dancing, and the sprinkling of holy water on the crowd. The paper noted that tourists and other foreigners attend. Crowds were sparse before noon in 2019, with the singing and dancing picking up after 4pm.

Addis Ababa sits at 2,355 m. Its January mean daily low is 8.6°C and the mean high 23.9°C, so bring a warm layer if you stay for the vigil.

Gondar and Lalibela

In Gondar the tabots of the city's churches are carried to the Fasilides Bath, a pool and stone pavilion beside the Qaha river, which is blessed and opened for bathing each Timkat. Al Jazeera reported in January 2024 that up to 250,000 people had attended past celebrations, but that conflict between federal forces and the Fano militia in Amhara cut the procession to about 1,000 people from the city's 44 churches that year, and few foreign visitors came. A resident told the broadcaster it was not colorful this year.

Lalibela is the other Amhara site: Wikipedia gives its Genna festival on 7 January and Timkat on 19 January, and says the town is especially crowded during major religious festivals. The same FCDO advice covers both towns.

Where to sleep

Most visitors arrive at Bole International Airport, which is the lowest point in Addis Ababa, at 2,326 m. North-east Addis Ababa, around Jan Meda, puts you closest to the field where the tabots spend the night. The tabots spend the eve at Jan Meda, so a room within walking distance puts you at the vigil.