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| Bonfire, chanting and flame-lit parades characterize Meskel |
The first big festival of the Ethiopian religious
calendar commemorates the finding of the true
cross by St Helena in the fourth century AD. Today
this great religious feast is fused with older,
traditional rites in honour of the return of sunshine
after the gloom of the rainy season -just as the
bright yellow Meskel daisy reaches full bloom. A riot
of colour, hope and joy, the Meskel Festival is
Celebrated with bonfires, parties, chanting, flame-
lit torch parades and public celebrations. Tradition
dictates that people return to the bonfire the
following morning to etch the sign of the cross on
their foreheads with ash. St Helena is said to have
given fragments of Christs cross to all the
churches of the world - the Ethiopian Church still
claims to have theirs in the remote monastery of
Gishan Mariam. This festival happen at late September.
More info: Ethiopia Tourism
More info: Ethiopia Tourism
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