Enkutatash (Ethiopian New Year)
Next: September 12, 2027
Yellow daisies for a fresh year.
The story
Where it comes from
Enkutatash is the Ethiopian New Year, the first day of the month of Meskerem. It falls on 11 September, or on 12 September in the year before a Gregorian leap year, because the Ethiopian calendar adds its leap day every four years without exception. That calendar has twelve months of 30 days and a thirteenth month, Pagume, of five or six days. The name is often explained as 'gift of jewels': tradition links the feast to the Queen of Sheba, welcomed home with jewels after visiting King Solomon.
How it's celebrated
The new year arrives as the long rains end and the countryside turns gold with adey abeba, a yellow daisy. On the eve, families light bonfires to say goodbye to the old year, and boys go from house to house singing Hoya Hoye. Girls in traditional dress sing new-year songs and bring bouquets of daisies to each household, receiving small gifts in return. Christians and Muslims celebrate alike, in Ethiopia and across the diaspora.
Did you know
- Ethiopia's year number runs seven to eight years behind the Gregorian one: 11 September 2016 began the Ethiopian year 2009.
- The thirteenth month inspired Ethiopia's old tourism slogan, '13 Months of Sunshine', which was replaced in 2016 by 'Land of Origins'.
- The name Pagume comes from the Greek epagomene, the days 'forgotten' when a year is calculated.
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