Events calendar Eritrea

The Meskel (Feast of the cross) is a very important feast for the Orthodox. It commemorates the discovery of the True Cross by St Helena in the fourth century. Legend is that Saint Helena had a revelation, in a dream in which he was told to fire and that the smoke would show him where the cross was buried. The Meskel ceremony is therefore to create a huge stake, which is called damera, on the largest square in the village. In Asmara, a procession takes place early in the morning from the Orthodox Church Rankin Mariam to Shahbaz Meskerem Square at the end of Harnet Avenue. The priests sing and dance throughout the procession, dressed with colourful and richly decorated dresses. Once faced with the stake, the priests bénissent and put the fire there. When the damera, having completely burned, collapses, the crowd casts on the remaining pieces of coal to sign the front with the cross. Families then continue the party in the intimacy of their home.

Without doubt, the country's most important national holiday. On that same day, in 1991, the forces of the EPLF came to the capital by claiming Eritrea's independence, after 30 years of bloody war against the Ethiopian army. That is what is being commemorated. Of course, the Independence Celebration is celebrated throughout the country, but it is in the capital that the celebration is the most spectacular: for a week (from 16 to 24) there are shows on Shahbaz Meskerem square and at the Odeon cinema, parades on Harnet Avenue, concerts across the city and a huge celebration at the Asmara stadium on 24. It always begins with a minute's silence in memory of the martyrs and then the various bodies of the army, as well as the police, pass on to their turn on the grass of the stadium. It is then the schoolchildren who come to sing, dance and finally scroll through the flag of the country. The celebration ends with the national anthem.

Orthodox Easter is celebrated in the spring. the date changes each year, but is still between April 4 and May 8. It marks the culmination of a long period of fifty-five days of fast meat, milk and eggs. The last day is full fasted and ends with a large mass during the night, which ends in the early morning. For the Orthodox people, Easter is a major festival, much more important than Christmas.

This event is not going unnoticed in Eritrea. Many events are organized to celebrate women.