The story
Fasika Lalibela in Lalibela
Fasika, Ethiopian Orthodox Easter, follows fifty-five days of fasting and arrives with all-night Holy Saturday vigils inside Lalibela's rock-hewn churches, ending at dawn when priests announce the resurrection. The setting inside churches built to evoke Jerusalem gives Lalibela's Fasika a heavier pilgrim crowd during Holy Week than an ordinary visit to the town.
Ethiopian Orthodox Easter, known as Fasika, follows the Julian calendar used by the church and typically falls later than Western Easter, arriving after fifty-five days of the Great Lent, called Hudade, during which many observant believers avoid meat and animal products entirely.