Ethiopian Christmas (Genna)
Ethiopian Christmas, known as “Lidet”, is not the primary religious and secular festival that it has become in Western countries. Falling on 7 January, it is celebrated seriously by the Ethiopian Orthodox church services that go on throughout the night, with people moving from one church to another. Traditionally, young men played a game similar to hockey, called Genna, on this day, and now Christmas has also come to be known by that name. Genna/Christmas is feasted at the end of a long fasting season, in commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Bethlehem in Israel.