Timkat is a holiday that has the largest numbers in attendance, and most of its ceremony takes place outside church compounds. The eve of Timkat is the one time that the replicas of the Arks of the Covenant, which every Ethiopian Orthodox church must have, leaves their sanctuaries and find resting places outside, preferably near the water. On that day, a mass sprinkling of holy water takes place before the crowd, after which the Arks return to their holy places with an amazing chanting, singing, and dancing of choirs as well as of the masses. Fasiladas’s Bath in Gondar is the best place to experience this awesome collaboration of people and the church, centered on the Ark.

Timkat is also a time when young people often select their future spouses, during the dancing of Timkat. Unlike at other times, the girls take the lead by throwing a lime at the man they like. If the feeling is mutual, the guy will send elders to her house to ask for her hand in marriage, making the weeks after Timkat a time when many weddings take place.