Happy 2968! Berber New Year becomes holiday in Algeria
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria: Algerian Berbers marked their New Year as a public holiday with feasts, dancing and horse parades, a first for the North Africa region where indigenous peoples have long suffered marginalisation.
Members of the Berber community – descendants of North Africa’s pre-Arab inhabitants – enjoyed traditional meals of couscous and chicken and played traditional games as they do each year.
But for the first time official events marking the ‘Yennayer’ celebration were also being held across the entire country of some 40 million people, roughly a quarter of whom are Berber.
Children and teenagers in traditional clothes paraded in the streets of the village of Ath Mendes in the Berber region of Kabylie alongside a folk band to the sounds of drums and the local ‘zurna’ oboe.
Horsemen led the procession, their shoulders draped in the Berber blue-green-yellow flag.
“This celebration is mostly aimed at raising the awareness of the young generation about the importance of their identity, culture and Amazigh traditions,” said Rachid Belkheir who helped organise the event.
The mountainous Kabylie region east of Algiers is home to the largest Berber community in Algeria, which is home to around 10 million people who speak Berber.
Around 3,000 people were expected to flock to a stadium in the northern town of Tizi-Ouzou to enjoy a communal meal later in the day.
The Berbers – who refer to their community as Amazigh – have long fought for greater recognition for their ancient language and customs, over-shadowed by Arabic culture in Algeria and across the broader region. — AFP