Fun and entertainment Ethiopia

Timetable

Bars are open from 6pm until late, clubs open a little later and close just as early in the morning.

Budget & Tips

Bole is a rather expensive district for trendy clubs, with prices for alcoholic beverages equivalent to those of a Parisian bar (but not a Parisian club, so it's okay). If you want to do as the Ethiopians do, take a club tour: they love to flit from place to place all evening long, and we recommend you do the same! Entrance is free, so you can get a taste of different atmospheres throughout the evening.

To be booked

If you want to be well placed during an ethiojazz or ethiogroove concert, we advise you to reserve a table, for example at Mulatu Astatke jazz club, at the Ghion Hotel or in one of those trendy new places where concerts are programmed almost every night. This way, you won't have to arrive too early just to get a good seat in front of the musicians.

Night transport

We advise you to take a cab via a mobile app at night for reasons of cab traceability.

Age restrictions

The legal drinking age is 18.

What's very local

The Kazanchis district is home to the azmari bet in Addis Ababa, but the tradition comes from the Amhara country, especially Gondar and Bahar Dar. The Fendika, on rue Zaouditou, is the place to go if you want to experience an evening of Ethiopian cabaret in Addis Ababa. The azmari, who improvise by singing jokes about local people or celebrities, are a kind of traditional slammer, accompanied by an instrument and other musicians. When the musician approaches and addresses personalized poems, it is naturally preferable to suspend one's conversation for a while to listen to what he is singing.

Azmaris are on the lower rungs of the social ladder and live off tips, or shilemat, distributed at the whim of customers. Some artists even win great rewards, and the kings of yore turned some of them into landowners. Even today, some azmari can achieve notoriety and become respected, even adored, artists.
It's forbidden to film or photograph here, and what happens in the cabarets stays in the cabarets, as many young people from good families want to remain discreet.

There's nothing sinister here, but the atmosphere heats up as the night goes on. The tourists leave after an hour or two, a little weary, even though that's when the show starts (but then the problem is getting in and finding a seat). Everyone gets up, drinks, laughs, sings, chats, the dancers enter the ring, between the tightly packed chairs of the ever-increasing number of locals, the singers give their all and also enter into a kind of musical trance, ping-ponging with the audience who know the songs. Very impressive and unique in the world. Well integrated as a "night owl" farandji who goes out to cabaret, we can chat with many erudite English-speaking locals and watch with fascination this great moment of collective catharsis.

Smokers

You can smoke in bars and clubs in the evening, inside or out.