Tesfaye Feo, a 48-year-old anesthesiologist in Addis Ababa, has spent more than a decade in the capital, far from his birthplace of Areka in the Wolayta Zone of the South Ethiopia Regional State. He left as a young man, building a career and raising four children in a city that often felt distant from the cultural rhythms of his childhood.
But when he heard the news this week that UNESCO had inscribed Gifaataa—the Wolayta people’s New Year festival—on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list, Tesfaye said it felt like a homecoming. The announcement, he said, carried the weight of a promise he had held since childhood, when he first learned the stories and rituals surrounding the festival in Areka.
For Tesfaye, the recognition is both personal and generational. “I am the happiest man alive today,” he told The Reporter. “Now my kids know where I come from and the tradition of their family. I hope to take them to my homeland for next year’s Gifaataa celebration.”
Gifaataa, observed between mid-September and early October, marks renewal and reconciliation among the Wolayta. UNESCO notes that preparations begin weeks earlier, with households cleaning their compounds, settling disputes and welcoming family members returning home for the holiday. On the main day, families share raw meat and local beer, and elders offer blessings.
Evening gatherings feature bonfires, rituals, dancing and communal songs. The celebrations stretch across ten days, culminating in goolo-igetta, a public festival marked by horse riding, music and final blessings.
Roles are traditionally assigned by age and gender: girls prepare food and decorate homes; boys gather firewood, build bonfires and help repair houses. Elders preside over conflict resolution, provide agricultural guidance and bless younger generations. Much of the festival’s knowledge is passed down within families and reinforced by schools, local media and cultural institutions.
Beyond its spiritual and social significance, Gifaataa also serves as a forum where young people meet potential marriage partners and families renew bonds strained by distance or time.
The festival’s timing, historians say, traces back to royal advisers who once studied lunar cycles to determine the New Year. After interpreting the moon’s phases, they presented their findings to the king, who then authorized public proclamations in marketplaces and communal gatherings.
Gifaataa now joins Ethiopia’s growing roster of UNESCO-recognized intangible heritage elements, including the Meskel festival, the Gada system, Timket, Fichee-Chambalaalla, the Ashenda girls’ festival and Somali camel culture.
For Tesfaye, the inscription is more than an international accolade. It affirms a tradition he long hoped to pass on, reconnects his children to their ancestral story and lodges a central piece of Wolayta identity firmly in the global cultural record.
