September 12 of every calendar year ushers in new year in Ethiopia, according to their Orthodox calendar.

Ethiopians living in Mombasa joined their fellow country men in celebrating the new year also known as Enkutatash.

The celebrations were held at the Sheba club led by the Ethiopia ambassador to Kenya Meles Alem. Kisauni Mp Ali Mbogo was also present during the celebrations.

Enkutatash which literary means “a gift of jewel to your finger” marks the Ethiopian New Year based on the Coptic calendar of Julian calculation. It signifies the end of the rainy season and the ushering in of the sunny one.

The tradition goes back 3,000 years as it was started to commemorate the Queen of Sheba of ancient Ethiopia and Yemen who visited King Solomon of Israel in Jerusalem.

During the celebration in Mombasa, the proprietor of Sheba club Wondwossen Kassie was also unveiled as the Ethiopia's cultural ambassador.

There is an eight-year gap between Ethiopian calendar and that of the one adopted by the rest of the world which follows the Gregorian calendar.