Timkat Festival: Ethiopian Epiphany Explained

The Timkat festival is the Ethiopian Orthodox celebration of Epiphany, commemorating the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan. It is normally celebrated on 19 January, or 20 January in leap years, because of the way the Ethiopian calendar adds its extra day, and it begins the day before with Ketera, when each church's tabot, a consecrated tablet representing the Ark of the Covenant, is carried in procession to water. After a night of prayer and chant, the water is blessed at dawn and the faithful are sprinkled or splashed with it. The next day the tabots are escorted home in joyful procession.

Timkat is one of the great public festivals of Ethiopian Christianity, and in 2019 UNESCO inscribed it, under the name Ethiopian epiphany, on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. For visitors it is spectacular, but above all it is an act of worship, and it is best understood that way.

What does Timkat celebrate?

The name Timkat comes from a Ge'ez word meaning baptism or immersion. The festival recalls the Gospel account of Jesus being baptised by John the Baptist, a moment that Christian tradition sees as a revelation of the Trinity. Ethiopia's dates follow its own calendar, which has twelve months of thirty days and a short thirteenth month, and which runs roughly seven to eight years behind the Gregorian calendar. Timkat falls on the eleventh day of the Ethiopian month of Ter, which is why its Gregorian date shifts by a day in some years.

Timkat is not a rebaptism. Ethiopian Orthodox Christians are baptised once. The blessing of water and the sprinkling of the crowd are understood as a renewal and a remembrance of baptism, a public reaffirmation of faith.

Ketera: the eve of Timkat

The celebration begins on the afternoon of the day before, known as Ketera. In each parish, priests bring the tabot out of the inner sanctuary. It is always covered, wrapped in richly embroidered cloth, and carried on a priest's head beneath brightly coloured ceremonial umbrellas. Deacons and priests in vestments, choirs, drummers and crowds of worshippers dressed in white accompany it to a river, a lake, a pool or a specially prepared water site. Along the way people sing, clap, play the kebero drum and shake the sistrum, a metal rattle used in church music.

At the water, the tabots are placed in tents. The clergy and many worshippers stay through the night, praying and chanting the hymns of the Ethiopian church, a tradition of sacred music that Ethiopians associate with Saint Yared. Many people bring food and blankets and keep vigil together.

The blessing at dawn and the return

Before sunrise the liturgy is celebrated, and then the water is blessed, often with candles and prayers at the water's edge. Priests sprinkle the crowd, and at some sites people plunge into the water or splash one another with great enthusiasm. It is a moment of real joy.

Later that day, the tabots set off back to their churches, again with singing, dancing and drums. Crowds can be enormous, and the processions may take hours. In many places the celebrations continue the next day with the feast of Saint Michael, when the tabots of churches dedicated to him make their own return.

Where Timkat is celebrated

Timkat is celebrated in every Ethiopian Orthodox parish, from great cities to small villages, and by Ethiopian communities around the world. A few celebrations are especially well known:

• Addis Ababa, where many tabots from across the capital gather at Jan Meda, a large open field, and crowds fill the streets.
• Gondar, where the pool at the bathing complex associated with Emperor Fasilides, a seventeenth-century monarch, is filled with water for Timkat and becomes the setting for one of the most famous blessings in the country.
• Lalibela, where the processions pass among the rock-hewn churches, themselves a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Local celebrations can be just as moving as the famous ones, and often far less crowded.

Timkat etiquette for visitors

Visitors are generally welcome, but Timkat is worship, not a show. A few simple courtesies go a long way:

• Dress modestly. White clothing is traditional for worshippers, and covering shoulders and knees is respectful.
• Never try to photograph or approach an uncovered tabot. It is always covered in public, and that sacredness should be respected.
• Ask before photographing individuals, and avoid pushing into the procession or standing in the path of the clergy.
• Follow the guidance of priests, deacons and stewards, and be patient: crowds are dense and processions move slowly.
• If you are splashed with water, accept it in the spirit it is given.

Why this matters on foot

The walk from Cape Agulhas to Windsor is planned to cross Ethiopia from the Kenyan border east towards Djibouti; the full line is on the route page, and our overview of the route from the Cape to London sets it in context. Ethiopia is the walk's great chapter on faith, and the expedition hopes to witness Timkat as worship rather than spectacle: the preparation, the night of prayer, the blessing and the return, not just the photographs.

At a planning pace of roughly 30 to 35 km a day, a walker has time to notice the churches along the road, each with its own tabot and its own Timkat. You can read who Leon is, see how the kindness ledger records an act of kindness paid for in every place he passes, and follow the journal once walking begins. If you would like to help, you can support the walk. More on Timkat's heritage status is available from UNESCO's intangible heritage pages.

Frequently asked questions

When is Timkat celebrated?

On 19 January in most years, and 20 January in leap years, with the Ketera processions on the evening before.

What is a tabot?

A consecrated tablet representing the Ark of the Covenant and the tablets of the Law. Every Ethiopian Orthodox church has one, and it is carried, covered, in the Timkat processions.

Can tourists attend Timkat?

Yes, respectfully. Dress modestly, do not obstruct the processions, ask before photographing people and follow the guidance of the clergy.

Is Timkat a UNESCO heritage event?

Yes. It was inscribed in 2019 as Ethiopian epiphany on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.