Public holidays in Ethiopia

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The following are public holidays (Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ብሔራዊ በዓል) in Ethiopia. Many holidays follow the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.[1]

National holiday[]

Date English name Amharic name Notes
2 March Victory at Adwa Day የዓድዋ ድል በዓል Commemorates Ethiopians victory over Italy at Battle of Adwa in 1896.[2]
1 May International Workers' Day ዓለም አቀፍ የሠራተኞች ቀን
5 May የአርበኞች ቀን Commemorates the 1941 entering of Emperor Haile Selassie into Addis Ababa amidst Second World War, who returned to the throne after 5 years Italian occupation of Ethiopia following Second Italo-Ethiopian War.[3]
28 May[4] Derg Downfall Day ደርግ የወደቀበት ቀን Commemorates the end of the Derg junta in 1991. It is also known as Ginbot 7 (ግንቦት 7).
11 September
(Leap year: 12 September)		 New Year's Day Enkutatash (እንቁጣጣሽ/የዘመን መለወጫ/አዲስ አመት) New Year of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Religious holidays[]

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church holidays[]

Orthodox Church calendar date English name Amharic name
7 January Genna (ልደተ-ለእግዚእነ/ ገና)
19 January
(Leap year: 20 January)		 Epiphany Timkat (ብርሐነ ጥምቀት)
Moveable in spring Good Friday Siklet (ዓርበ ስቅለት)
Moveable in spring Easter Fasika (ብርሐነ-ትንሣኤ/ፋሲካ)
27 September
28 September (leap year)		 Meskel መስቀል

Islamic holidays[]

In addition, the following Muslim holidays, which may take place at any time of the year, are observed as public holidays:

Islamic calendar date English name Amharic name Notes
Moveable Ramadan ረመዳን Ninth month, devoted to fasting
12 Rabi' al-awwal (Sunni)
17 Rabi' al-awwal (Shia)		 Mawlid መውሊድ Birth of the Prophet
1 Shawwal Eid al-Fitr ዒድ አል ፈጥር Breaking of the Fast
10 Dhu al-Hijjah Eid al-Adha ዒድ አል አድሐ Feast of the Sacrifice

Holidays under the Derg communist rule (1974–1991)[]

Date English name Amharic name Notes
12 September Revolution Day የአብዮት ቀን Celebrated during Communist rule from 1974 to 1991 to celebrate the establishment of the Derg. In 1987, the celebrations of the holiday, which included a military parade on Revolution Square attended by multiple figures, also commemorated the establishment of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.[5][6]
7 November October Revolution Day የጥቅምት አብዮት ቀን Celebrated during Communist rule from 1974 to 1991.

References[]

  1. ^ "Festivals & Holidays". www.ethioembassy.org.uk. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  2. ^ "Victory of Adwa in Ethiopia in 2021". Office Holidays. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  3. ^ "Patriots' Victory Day in Ethiopia in 2021". Office Holidays. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  4. ^ "Derg Downfall Day in Ethiopia". www.timeanddate.com. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  5. ^ "Ethiopia Celebrates 13th Anniversary of Revolution". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
  6. ^ "Ethiopian revolution marked". UPI. Retrieved 2021-06-23.


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