Ethiopian Christmas day falls on January 7 on the popular Gregorian calendar most peoples of the world familiar with. This is the date that Christmas was originally celebrated and still is in most Orthodox Christian churches. Christmas also called Liddet, Genna and Qiddus Bala Wald is preceded by a fast of 40 days. During Christmas Eve, peoples go to Church and spend the night praying. As the people come to the church, they bring candles with them which are then lit. Then they walk around the church three times. Men and boys sit separately from women and girls inside the church. The choir sings in the Kene mahelet place. The congregation remain standing for Mass which can last up more than 3 hours.
In the afternoon on Genna day, a traditional hockey-like game called Yágenna Chewata often shortened to Genna is played with much enthusiasm among the youths with the elders acting as referees. It is claimed that when the shepherd heard about the birth of Christ, they were joyful and so ecstatic, they started playing the game with their sticks and staffs. Though Genna is observed by Christians across Ethiopia, the most famous Christmas celebrations arguably occur in the historic city of Lalibela. There, crowds of up to 100,000 pilgrims gather to watch immaculately dressed Orthodox clergy perform the woreb lining the steep ledges surrounding the famous rock-hewn churches, carved over 800 years ago.
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