Addis Ababa, September 24, 2026 (FMC) — As Meskerem unfolds across Ethiopia, the country enters one of its most vibrant stretches of the year — a season when a new year begins amid fresh blooms, ancient traditions, colorful celebrations and a calendar rich with occasions that invite the world to experience Ethiopia from within.
For international visitors, Meskerem is more than the first month of the Ethiopian calendar.
It is a passage into a country where history and living culture meet in streets, squares, villages and sacred spaces; where celebrations carry memories across generations; and where hospitality remains an essential part of the Ethiopian experience.
The month began with Ethiopia’s New Year on September 11, bringing with it the familiar signs of renewal.
The arrival of Meskerem coincides with the blooming of the yellow Adey Abeba flowers, whose bright colors have become closely associated with the season.
Across the country, families and communities mark the new beginning through gatherings, traditional foods, music, greetings and customs that give the Ethiopian New Year its distinctive character.
This year, the festive atmosphere comes as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been extending an invitation to international visitors to discover Ethiopia, including through measures connected with making travel and entry more accessible.
His message comes at a moment when the country is preparing to showcase a succession of cultural celebrations that stretch through the month and beyond.
Meskerem’s calendar offers visitors an unusually rich window into Ethiopia’s cultural diversity.
Gifaataa, the Wolaita New Year celebration inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, marked the beginning of the festive sequence on September 20 in Wolaita Sodo.
The celebration offers a glimpse into the heritage, customs and communal traditions through which the Wolaita people welcome a new year.
Then comes Meskel, the Finding of the True Cross, one of Ethiopia’s most distinctive and visually powerful celebrations. Inscribed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, Meskel will be celebrated on September 26–27 at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa and in communities across the country.
As evening falls, the Demera bonfire becomes the center of the celebration, surrounded by song, dance, ceremony and crowds gathering in anticipation.
For a visitor, it is an opportunity not simply to witness a festival, but to encounter a tradition whose meaning has been carried through centuries.
And the journey does not end there.
As Meskerem moves toward its close, Irreechaa will bring another expression of Ethiopia’s cultural richness.
The Oromo thanksgiving celebration will take place on October 3–4, with celebrations at Irreechaa Park in Addis Ababa on October 3 and at Hora Arsadi in Bishoftu on October 4.
Together, these occasions reveal something central to Ethiopia: its cultural diversity is not confined to museums or historical sites. It is lived, celebrated and renewed by communities themselves.
For travelers, that makes Meskerem a particularly compelling time to explore the country.
A journey can move from the historic landscapes and cultural heritage of Addis Ababa to regional celebrations where traditions unfold in their own settings, languages, music, attire and communal rituals.
The country’s tourism sector is also moving to make that experience increasingly accessible in a changing digital age.
The Ministry of Tourism has unveiled a Digital Tourist Information Center at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, equipped with high-tech screens and interactive devices to provide visitors with information in a more engaging way. Its location is also intended to serve stopover travelers, given its proximity to Bole International Airport.
Meanwhile, the Visit Ethiopia digital platform is being upgraded with artificial intelligence features designed to provide more personalized and tailored tourism services — part of a broader effort to align Ethiopia’s tourism development with digital transformation.
Yet technology is only one part of the welcome.
The deeper attraction of Meskerem lies in the human experience: in the warmth of a New Year greeting, the colors of traditional dress, the sound of celebration spilling into the streets, the fragrance of seasonal flowers, the gathering of families and communities, and the stories embedded in customs that have endured across generations.
For a traveler arriving in Ethiopia during this season, the country can feel like an open cultural calendar — one celebration leading naturally into another, each revealing another layer of its heritage.
From the renewal of the Ethiopian New Year to the flames of Meskel and the thanksgiving of Irreechaa, Meskerem offers a month in which Ethiopia does not merely present its culture to visitors. It invites them to experience it.
And as the country welcomes the world, the invitation is simple: come during Meskerem, and discover Ethiopia at a time when its history, heritage, traditions and hospitality are especially alive.