I got this article from THIS site
Well, The Celebration is A year Long celebration :mf_w00t2: ...Michael might go there maybe nxt year????? :blink: since its a year long.... I can Only hope...
Better late than never. Addis Ababa finally gets the millennium bug
Party time arrives where the calendar is 7 years behind. But it comes at a hefty price
Xan Rice in Addis Ababa
Tuesday September 11, 2007
The Guardian
Cleaning the streets of Addis Ababa in readiness for the third millennium. Photograph: Jose Cendon/AFP/Getty
A huge celebration has been planned. In the capital, Addis Ababa, the streets have been lit up with strings of lights shining red, yellow and green, and searchlights carve swords of silver in the sky. A brand-new £5m convention hall has been built near the airport by a billionaire construction magnate. There, in front of 20,000 people, US hip-hop stars The Black Eyed Peas will headline a concert that will be broadcast on giant screens across the country, kicking off a year of celebrations.
Organisers hope that the festivities will help project a new image of Ethiopia abroad, replacing the stereotypical view of a country plagued by hunger, conflict and poverty. For Ethiopians themselves, it is an opportunity to forget their worries and look to a better future, according to Seyoum Bereded, the head of the millennium organising committee.
"This is like a birthday," said Mr Bereded, who until last year worked with IT in London. "And on your birthday you don't talk about the appendix operation you had a few months ago."
Although many Ethiopians, particularly those in the cities, are equally comfortable using the western dateline, there is little doubting their pride in maintaining their own calendar. Alongside Ethiopia's status as the cradle of humankind and its record as the only African country successfully to resist colonisation, the faith-based calendar reinforces the feeling that, while they are African, they are also unique.
"There are more than 200 countries in the world, and we are the only ones to celebrate the millennium at this time," said Fanthun Bogale, an IT technician, having a drink at Cordial Pastry, a coffee shop in the student district.
It was not just a celebration but a spiritual occasion, said Samuel Demissie. He, like many people in what is a deeply religious society, half Christian and half Muslim, planned to spend the night in church rather than bopping to pop music. Desahegn Getaneh said he would be in church too, but part of him wished he could attend the concert. However, the price - more than £80 for the cheapest ticket - made that impossible.
He is not the only one complaining. The anticipated influx of hordes of tourists and tens of thousands of people from the diaspora and has sent prices spiralling. Indeed, so great has been the increase in the cost of hot peppers, an essential ingredient in any Ethiopian meal, that some have dubbed this "the pepperless milliennium".
Organisers stress that the costs of staging the event are being borne by Sheik Mohammed al-Amoudi, the Ethiopian-born tycoon and one of the 100 richest men in the world. The Sheraton Hotel he owns, one of the most luxurious in Africa, will be responsible for the huge fireworks display at midnight.
Nor will the celebrations stop there. Beyonce, the US pop diva, is scheduled to perform in October as part of the year-long festival. There are plans to plant several hundred million trees in an attempt to help reverse centuries of deforestation, and to make advances in access to education and health.
Still, the official theme, "A prosperous Ethiopia with a politically strong and economically dynamic society", hints at the main reason why some are uncomfortable. They view the event as a government project. And in Addis Ababa, prime minister Meles Zenawi's regime is deeply unpopular.
This has already caused hitches. The Great Ethiopian Run, organised by Haile Gebreselassie, has been postponed for security reasons, and events scheduled for Meskel Square, a plaza in the heart of the city, were likewise called off. In the recent past, large gatherings in the capital have seen youths pelt the police with bottles and stones.
"In all the urban areas people are worried about the political situation and what will come next," said Daniel Mono, a 26-year-old development worker. "The millennium is a change of numbers and is not going to solve the problems no matter what the authorities say."
The heavy police and army presence on the streets also reflects concerns about mischief from any of the government's numerous enemies outside the capital, from the rebels currently facing a crackdown in the eastern Ogaden region to Islamists in Somalia and Eritrean forces across the border.
But, as some people have pointed out, the government is at least free from one major worry associated with the millennium - namely Y2K bug.
Well, The Celebration is A year Long celebration :mf_w00t2: ...Michael might go there maybe nxt year????? :blink: since its a year long.... I can Only hope...