Looking out at the crowd in one direction. Though this is likely the largest, as it is the one the Patriarch attends, it is only one of more than twenty celebrations throughout Addis Ababa. The group with the umbrellas accompanies the tabot from several churches, joining the celebration.
Incidentally, the condominium in the upper-right is where I live–you can see my balcony in the photo.
Däbtäras perform liturgical dance on the stage in front of the priests carrying the tabot during the first day of the Timkat celebrations.
These priests marched and stood with the tabot (replicas of the Tablets of the Law, contents of the Ark of the Covenant supposedly resident in Axum, and the sanctifying piece of any Ethiopian Church) on their heads for hours, very patiently. It is a great honor to be selected to carry the tabot, but I wonder how it is on the back. . .