The Ethiopian artists performed traditional rituals—singing, dancing and face painting—at the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) to celebrate the ‘Ethiopian New Year 2017.’ The Embassy of Ethiopia had organized the event with Ambassador of Ethiopia JemalBekrAbdula spearheading the celebrations.
The traditional songs and dance performances from Amhara, Oromo, Somali, Afar, Tigray, hailing from southern part of Ethiopia and other culturally diverse areas enthralled an audience of more than 500 individuals from all walks of life at the ICCI auditorium. The performance electrified the audience; those in attendance could not help joining with the dancers and the rhythmic tunes.
Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting, Culture and National Heritage AttaullahTarar was the chief guest, while Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis, Human Resource Development, Religious Affairs and Inter-faith harmony, ChaudhrySalikHussain was the guest of honor.
Additional Secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hamid Asghar Khan, President of ICCI AhsanZafarBakhtawari and Pakistan Africa Association Chairman ZafarBakhtawari were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the New Year Celebration Ceremony, Ambassador JemalBeker expressed gratitude to the Government and people of Pakistan for joining the Ethiopian Embassy Islamabad in the New Year Celebrations and appreciating the Ethiopian cultural diversity. He explained to the audience the Ethiopian distinct feature of having its own calendar which is seven years behind the Gregorian Calendar and falls on September 11th or 12th during a leap year.
