The Timkat festival is one of the biggest celebrations on the Ethiopian calendar. The festival is built around the baptism of Jesus Christ, and is a national holiday in Ethiopia.

The annual festival, meant to replicate Christ’s baptism in the river Jordan, takes place on the 19th January (or the 20th in a leap year). Timkat, also written as Timket, literally translates to ‘baptism’.

The main festivities are usually held in the former Emperor Fasilides bathhouse, with smaller satellite celebrations springing up across the land.

Weeks before the festivity begins, water around the castle city of Gonder is rerouted to the bathhouse, and the solitary structure sat in the centre of a bone dry pool, is slowly submerged in water.

Gonder, one of the most significant historical cities in Ethiopia – and a spiritual hub of the country – is the epicentre for the festivities.

Worshippers travel far and wide to attend. Ancient structures burst to life, and for a short while are returned to their former glory.

The atmosphere surrounding the site in anticipation for Timkat is palpable, and a buzz can be felt around the winding city roads and within the shanty style shacks spread across the city.