Enkutatash is the Ethiopian New Year, held on 1 Meskerem, the first day of the Ethiopian calendar. It usually falls on 11 September, and on 12 September in the Gregorian year before a leap year. On 11 September 2026 Ethiopians welcomed the year 2019; the next New Year is on Sunday 12 September 2027, when 2020 begins.

The timing is not arbitrary. New Year comes as the heavy kiremt rains end, the highlands turn green and fields fill with yellow daisies. For many Ethiopians it feels like spring: a fresh start after the grey, muddy months of July and August. The Ethiopian calendar runs seven to eight years behind the Gregorian one, which is why the year numbers look so different.

For visitors, New Year is a family holiday more than a public show. The best way to feel it is to be out and about in Addis that morning, and a private car with a driver who knows the city makes it easy to fit church, a family lunch and a few visits into one day.

What does Enkutatash mean?

Enkutatash is usually translated as gift of jewels. The name is tied to a legend about the Queen of Sheba: when she returned from visiting King Solomon in Jerusalem, her chiefs are said to have welcomed her home with jewels. Whether or not you take the story literally, it gives the holiday its royal, celebratory tone.

In the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition the same day is the feast of St John the Baptist, so you may also hear it called Kidus Yohannes (St John's Day).

When is Enkutatash in 2027 and 2028?

The Ethiopian year has twelve months of 30 days, plus a short thirteenth month called Pagume with five days, or six in a leap year. Ethiopia adds its leap day at the end of its year, in September, a few months before the Gregorian leap day in February. That is why New Year moves from 11 to 12 September in the Gregorian year just before a leap year.

• 2026: Friday 11 September, start of Ethiopian year 2019 (already celebrated).
• 2027: Sunday 12 September, start of Ethiopian year 2020.
• 2028: Monday 11 September, start of Ethiopian year 2021.

Enkutatash is a national public holiday. The Meskel festival follows sixteen days later, on 17 Meskerem: that was 27 September in 2026 and will be 28 September in 2027, so a trip in the second half of September can take in both.

Why is Ethiopia seven or eight years behind?

The gap comes from a different calculation of the date of the Annunciation and Christ's birth. The Ethiopian church follows a reckoning made by Annianus of Alexandria around AD 400, while Europe later adopted the calculation of Dionysius Exiguus, which put those events several years earlier. The result is that the Ethiopian year number is eight lower than the Gregorian one from January until New Year in September, then seven lower until the end of December.

How is Enkutatash celebrated?

The eve: torches and bonfires

In many Orthodox households, bundles of dry sticks called chibo are lit on the evening before New Year, a small fire to see out the old year and welcome the new one. Homes are cleaned and decorated with freshly cut grass and adey abeba flowers.

Church, then family

New Year's Day usually starts with a church service. Afterwards the focus moves home: families gather for a festive meal, most often doro wat, the spiced chicken stew, with injera, followed by a coffee ceremony and a round of visits to relatives and neighbours.

Songs and flowers

The sound of Enkutatash is children singing. Girls in new white dresses go from house to house singing Abebayehosh, the traditional New Year song, and handing out bunches of yellow adey abeba, receiving small gifts or blessings in return. In towns, people also exchange New Year cards and messages.

What is adey abeba?

Adey abeba is the bright yellow daisy that blooms across the Ethiopian highlands at the end of the rains. It is the emblem of the New Year season, and you will see it in bouquets, on cards and in decorations. Yellow daisies also decorate the Meskel bonfire, the Demera, just over two weeks later.

What is the weather like at Ethiopian New Year?

Enkutatash sits at the hinge between Ethiopia's two main seasons. In Addis Ababa, at about 2,355 metres, July and August are the wettest months, each with roughly 240 mm of rain and rain on most days. By November and December the city is almost completely dry. Early to mid September is the changeover: showers are still possible, but the skies are clearing, the air is fresh and the countryside is at its greenest.

Daytime temperatures in Addis stay mild all year, typically in the low to mid twenties Celsius, while evenings are cool enough for a jacket. That makes New Year a comfortable, if occasionally damp, time to be in the capital.

Can visitors take part in Enkutatash?

Enkutatash is mainly a family and church holiday rather than a single big public spectacle, so what you see depends on who you know. If you have Ethiopian friends or relatives, a New Year's Day invitation is the best way to experience it. Otherwise, you may hear children singing in residential streets, see churches busy in the morning and find flowers on sale everywhere.

• Expect banks, government offices and many shops to close on the day itself.
• The rains are ending but not always over in early September, so pack a light rain jacket.
• If you want a lively public festival, plan to stay for Meskel as well.

How do you get around Addis on New Year's Day?

Many people spend Enkutatash crossing the city: church in the morning, lunch with one side of the family, coffee with the other in the afternoon. With shops and offices closed and families on the move, it helps to have a car that waits for you. Book one of our drivers for the day and we take you from stop to stop, drop you at the door and pick you up when you're ready.