The Ethiopian potato research programme has released more than 30 new varieties, selected primarily for yield potential and late blight tolerance; however, the majority of farmers still choose to grow “local varieties”. Cognizant of this, the current study was aimed at identifying traits that farmers consider most important when deciding which varieties to grow. The study was conducted at two sites in North-west Ethiopia that represent two major agro-ecological zones in two distinct growing seasons, using a participatory variety selection approach. Disease-free seed tubers of nine local and three released varieties were planted. Twenty-three traits were found to influence the varieties that farmers selected, with the degree of importance of each trait differing by agro-ecological zone and gender. Of the 23 traits, 12 were considered very important and 6 determined the acceptance of a variety with their importance differing over seasons. The results showed that farmers’ selection criteria are very diverse, no variety possesses all desirable characteristics, and there is a need for selecting varieties adapted to different agro-ecologies and growing seasons. This study further suggests that taking farmers’ interests into account and the use of local varieties are important in potato breeding in Ethiopia. Semagn Asredie Kolech;