ADDIS ABABA– Lalibela City Administration announced that it had completed preparation to receive guests who come to celebrate Christmas Day at the city.
Mendafro Tedesse, Deputy Mayor of the city and Head of Education bureau, told Ethiopian Press Agency that the city administration has undertook adequate preparation by forming main committee and seven sub committees to celebrate Christmas (Ethiopians call it ‘Genna’) with absolute peace.
He noted that as the birthday of Jesus Christ and King Lalibela is celebrated in similar day (January 7), large number of people make the trip to the city, which is famous for its monolithic rock-cut churches.
While Christmas is one of the greatest and most colorful festivals on the Ethiopian calendar, at Lalibela, it is celebrated with greater devotion, chanting, dancing, and singing around the rock-hewn churches that were built more than 800 years ago. The ancient city of Lalibela will be filled with tens of thousands of pilgrims who come from all directions of Ethiopia and from all walks of life.
In light with this, he stated, the city administrations has been working in many fronts – from roads, to electricity and running water – in order to make the exprience for tourists and people that come to celebrate Christmas in Lalibela convenient and unforgettable.
“Youths of the city have this awe-inspiring culture of washing guest’s feet which they have been doing it in disorganized manner, but there have been works done to do it in an organized manner so that guests who come to visit will have amazing experience.”
On the other hand, the city administration has taken various steps and procedures in order to make sure everything goes smoothly.
He stressed that apart from the city administration, the church has been working to boost the number of visiting local tourists, stating that they are expecting more than 600 thousand local tourists to make the trip and take part at the festival.
January 2020 The Ethiopian Herald
BY TAMERU REGASA
