Also known as: Lidet · Ledet · Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas
Genna (ገና) — also called Lidet, "the Nativity" — is Ethiopian Christmas, celebrated on January 7. It closes Tsome Nebiyat, the 43-day Fast of the Prophets, during which observant Orthodox Christians take no meat, dairy or eggs. If the Christmas of much of the world has become a season of shopping, Genna has kept an older shape: its center of gravity is a night-long church service, its dress is the white cotton netela, and its feast is the first taste of meat in six weeks. It is devotional first, festive second — and all the more moving for it.
Why January 7?
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church keeps the Nativity on Tahsas 29 of its own calendar. In the current alignment of calendars that date corresponds to January 7 — the same day kept by other churches that follow the older calendar reckoning for fixed feasts. So Ethiopia's Christmas is not "two weeks late"; it is the same feast counted on a different, older calendar arithmetic.
The date arrives at the end of Tsome Nebiyat, the Advent fast that begins in mid-Hidar (late November). Forty-three days of vegan fasting give the feast its meaning: Genna morning is not just a celebration but a release, and the food traditions of the day — above all doro wat, the slow-simmered chicken stew — exist precisely because of the fast that precedes them.
The night of Genna: liturgy in white
Genna is kept overnight. On the evening of January 6 the faithful stream to church wrapped in white — the netela and kuta of Ethiopian tradition — and the liturgy runs through the night into the dawn of the feast, with the church's chant, drum and sistrum carrying the hours. Many keep candles lit through the vigil, and the sight of a hillside church glowing with white-clad worshippers at 3 a.m. is one of the enduring images of Ethiopian Christianity.
Nowhere is the night grander than in Lalibela, the mountain town whose eleven medieval churches are hewn straight down into the rock. Tens of thousands of pilgrims — many having walked for days — converge on Lalibela for Genna each year, filling the courtyards and hillsides around Bete Maryam and Bete Giyorgis in one of the great pilgrimage gatherings of the Christian world.
The feast, the bread, and the game called genna
After the service, the fast is broken in earnest: doro wat with injera, often a sheep slaughtered for the day in households that can afford it, the large round holiday bread called difo dabo, and the coffee ceremony to close the meal. Gift-giving is traditionally modest — small presents for children at most — because the feast itself, and the company around it, is the point.
The holiday shares its name with a traditional field game: genna, a fast, hockey-like game played with curved sticks and a wooden ball between teams that can span whole villages. Folk tradition connects game and feast, saying the shepherds of Bethlehem celebrated the news of the Nativity with a match. Games are still played in the countryside during the season — a piece of living folklore that makes Ethiopian Christmas entirely its own.
Frequently asked questions
- When is Ethiopian Christmas in 2027?
- Thursday, January 7, 2027 — Tahsas 29, 2019 in the Ethiopian calendar.
- When is Ethiopian Christmas?
- January 7 — Tahsas 29 in the Ethiopian calendar. The main celebration is the church liturgy that runs through the night of January 6 into Christmas dawn.
- Why is Ethiopian Christmas on January 7 instead of December 25?
- The Ethiopian church keeps the Nativity on Tahsas 29 of its own calendar, which corresponds to January 7 — the same date kept by other churches following the older calendar reckoning. It is the same feast on a different calendar arithmetic, not a delayed celebration.
- What is the fast before Genna?
- Tsome Nebiyat, the Fast of the Prophets — 43 days without meat, dairy or eggs, beginning in late November and ending with the Genna feast.
- What food is eaten at Genna?
- Doro wat (chicken stew) with injera is the classic dish, often with a sheep slaughtered for the day, the round holiday bread difo dabo, and the coffee ceremony after the meal.
- What is the genna game?
- A traditional hockey-like field game played with curved sticks and a wooden ball, sharing the holiday's name. Folk tradition says the shepherds of Bethlehem played it on the first Christmas night.