Ethiopia's colourful Timkat festival arrives in town to celebrate major religious event

The Orthodox Christian event takes place on January 19 to commemorate Jesus' baptism in River Jordan

Colourful umbrellas, flags and white robes lined the streets of Ethiopia to celebrate one of the most important days in the Orthodox Christian calendar.

Although relatively unknown by the outside world the Timkat festival is celebrated by around 40 million people who are members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

Beginning celebrations the evening before, revellers head to rivers or pools of water at around 2am, which is blessed and then sprinkled on participants.

Some then enter the water to renew their baptismal vows before partaking in the main festival the following day.

Parades run throughout towns and villages, sound-tracked to drums, bells and trumpets and interspersed with prayers.

One of the major celebrations takes place in the northern city of Gondar, where worshippers flock to the UNESCO heritage site royal baths to bathe into the waters.

Talking to AFP one observer, who travelled from France to see the event, Olivier Michel, said: "Everybody really commits to this tradition and to this religion, it seems to be really popular and not something from history-it is vivid."

Meanwhile local resident Mequant Teshome, 73, said that foreign visitors have been welcomed to help spread word of the ancient event.