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National holidays are held to celebrate the victory over the Italians at Adwa in 1896, the Liberation from the Italian occupation in 1941 and the downfall of the Derg in 1991.
But it is the major Ethiopian Orthodox festivals that represent the people at their most colourful and festive. Meskal is a two-day festival at the end of September celebrating the Finding of the True Cross. Bonfires are lit and singing
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The greatest Orthodox festival is that of Timkat in the middle of January. It celebrates Epiphany and it is marked by the procession of the tabots (the replicas of the Ark of the Covenant, the original of which is said to be in the chapel at Axum) around the towns, draped in heavy embroidered materials. People in Gondar bathe in Fasil's Bath and splash water over onlookers.
Other religious festivals are at Fasika (Easter), Inketatash (the New Year in mid-September) and Genna (Christmas in early January). All the Islamic holidays are also celebrated according to the lunar cycle of shifting dates as in other countries.