St. George’s Gala

This annual black-tie/white-shawl formal event is a commemoration of the Feast of St. George, the patron saint of Ethiopia, hosted by the Ethiopian Arts & Humanities Fund. The St. George Gala is designed as an exclusive rebirth of the longstanding Ethiopian legacy, highlighting the elegance, class and sophistication of traditional Ethiopian Society.

The St. George’s Gala seeks to establish an institution through which traditional Ethiopian art, artifacts and culture are preserved. It calls together religious leaders, celebrities, philanthropists, political figures, diplomats and other influential figures within the Ethiopian diaspora in an awesome display of the richness and nobility of traditional Ethiopian heritage. The mainstay of the St. George’s Gala is that, in traditional Ethiopian fashion, the feast extends beyond the confines of the banquet walls and spills out into the streets with a street festivities administered by Bete Israeli, Muslim and Christian leaders from the Ethiopian community that are open to the community at large.

White Shawl Formal

What is a “white-shawl” formal you may ask? A white-shawl formal is an expression coined by the St. George’s Gala to refer to traditional Ethiopian banquet formalwear which consists of men dressed in all white, wearing a white shawl and optional accessories such as a sash called a “Jano” or a cloak referred to as a “Kabba”.