What's on in Gondar, Ethiopia through the year

Peak crowds — Genna, Timkat at Fasilides' Bath

• Festival

  Genna

  6–8 JanChristmas & New YearCrowded

  Ethiopian Christmas on 7 January, kept with an all-night service and the end of the Advent fast. It is the quieter of the town's two January occasions, and a fortnight later everything doubles in price. Source ↗

• Festival

  Timkat at Fasilides' Bath

  18–20 JanReligious feastCrowdedBook early

  The stone bath below the castle is filled for the one morning of the year, and when the water is blessed the crowd goes in over the walls. This is the country's best-known Epiphany and beds are gone months ahead. Source ↗

Still on: Simien trekking season (1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Rule

  Abiy Tsom, the Great Lent

  10 Feb – 1 May · usuallyEaster & Holy Week

  The 55-day Orthodox fast before Fasika: most local restaurants switch to fasting food with no meat, dairy or eggs, which makes it the best time for shiro and vegetable platters and the hardest for a steak. Source ↗

Still on: Simien trekking season (1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Abiy Tsom, the Great Lent (10 Feb – 1 May (usually)), Simien trekking season (1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Fasika, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Fasika

  5 Apr – 5 May · usuallyEaster & Holy WeekCrowded

  Orthodox Easter closes eight weeks of fasting with a midnight service and a long meal after it. It follows the Orthodox calendar, so it usually falls a week or more later than the Western date. Source ↗

Still on: Abiy Tsom, the Great Lent (10 Feb – 1 May (usually))

Busy — Fasika, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Abiy Tsom, the Great Lent (10 Feb – 1 May (usually)), Fasika (5 Apr – 5 May (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in June.

Quiet — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in July.

Quiet — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Festival

  Ashendye girls' festival

  22 Aug – 1 Sep · usuallyReligious feast

  At the end of the Filseta fast girls in white dresses and grass skirts go street to street singing and drumming for coins. Called Ashenda in Tigray and Ashendye around Gondar and Lasta. Source ↗

Busy — Enkutatash, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Enkutatash

  11–12 SepNational holidayCrowded

  Ethiopian New Year, at the end of the rains, when the yellow meskel daisies are out on the hillsides and children go door to door singing. A family day more than a spectacle. Source ↗

• Festival

  Meskel

  26–28 SepReligious feast

  A demera bonfire is built in the square and lit on the eve of the 27th, with priests circling it in procession. It marks the end of the rains and the start of the season the roads to Simien are reliable. Source ↗

Still on: Ashendye girls' festival (22 Aug – 1 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  Simien trekking season

  1 Oct – 31 Mar · usuallyTrail season

  The Simien Mountains, a few hours north via Debark, are best trekked after the rains: October and November are green with big gelada troops on the escarpment, and December to February is the busy peak. Source ↗

Busy — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Simien trekking season (1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Simien trekking season (1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually))