Timket Addis Ababa Jan Meda

Jan Meda, Addis Ababa's historic public grounds, hosts the capital's principal Timkat gathering, where Tabots from churches across the city converge the evening before the feast for an overnight vigil, procession and dawn water-blessing ceremony. Its scale reflects Addis Ababa's own size, drawing crowds from across the sprawling capital to a single historic assembly point.

Jan Meda, a large open grounds in Addis Ababa historically used for horse racing, military parades and public gatherings since the imperial era, serves as the capital's principal Timkat assembly site, where the Tabots of the city's churches converge the evening before the feast for an overnight vigil, having been carried there in procession from their home churches by priests bearing the sacred objects, wrapped in rich cloth, on their heads.