The story
Fasika Addis Ababa in Addis Ababa
Ethiopian Orthodox Easter, Fasika, follows a fifty-five day fast, Abiy Tsom, stricter than the Western Lenten period, and usually falls later than Western Easter due to the Church's own calendar reckoning. In Addis Ababa, an overnight vigil service on Holy Saturday leads into a dawn fast-breaking feast of meat dishes including doro wat, marking the return to normal eating after weeks of abstinence.
Ethiopian Orthodox Christians mark Easter, known as Fasika, at the end of a fifty-five day fast called Abiy Tsom, considerably longer and stricter than the Western Lenten fast, during which observant members avoid meat and animal products entirely rather than giving up a single item of food.