Enkutatash (New Year)  |   Ledet (Ethiopian Christmas)   |   Meskel
Timket (Ethiopian Epiphany) | Hidar Tsion   |  Fasika (Ethiopian Easter)   
Debra Damo (Feast of Saint Aregawi             

Meskel (The finding of the true cross)
The Meskel festival is one of the most important events in the spiritual part of Ethiopian culture. Meskel means cross in Geez (the classic language of Ethiopia now used predominantly in the Ethiopian Orthodox church). Ethiopia claims more than a thousand types of cross designs in its treasured heritage-an uncontested world record. Meskel is celebrated by dancing, feasting and lighting a massive bonfire known in Ethiopian tradition as Demmera. Meskel festival commemorates the finding of the very cross on which Jesus Christ of Nazareth was crucified in Golgotha in the fourth century by Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine. The feast is celebrated in Ethiopia on September 17th on the Ethiopian calendar (September 27th on the Gregorian calendar), six months after the discovery of the true cross. The celebration of Meskel recognizes the presence of the true cross at the Mountain of Gishen Miriam monastery, and also recognizes Empress Helena’s road to finding it. According to tradition, Empress Helena lit incense and prayed for assistance from God in her search for the cross.