Yennayer, which refers above all to a holiday celebrated in all regions of the country, is not an ordinary day.
The different ways in which this date is marked reveal a culinary richness but above all the attachment of the Algerians to their history and traditions. Our reporters talk about the celebration of this event in Bejaïa, Oran and Tipasa. But these cities are no exception. In this file, we also evoke the markets in effervescence and all the actions carried out to safeguard a heritage, a language which, like Yennayer, belongs to all Algerians. A researcher also recalls the meaning of Yennayer, whose particularity is to federate and invite people to share and turn to the earth so as never to forget its benefits, which we too often ignore.
Algerians are celebrating Yennayer, the Amazigh New Year, this Wednesday, like many Mediterranean and North African nations. An ancestral occasion that has not aged and whose scope remains intact as it still embodies the spirit of identity communion and the feeling of intergenerational brotherhood. But so that no one forgets, its integration among the national holidays is the fruit of a long fight which was stormy and tumultuous. In fact, it is a popular demand which has imposed itself by its legitimacy and which has fueled political debates for years. After much procrastination, the state finally admitted the obvious.
We had to give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. The irrevocable sentence has therefore fallen and since December 27, 2017, Yennayer has been decreed, to the delight of the majority of Algerians, a paid national day off. An implicit recognition of the Berber culture which intervenes, it should be emphasized, a year after the constitutionalization of Tamazight as the second official language of the country. The first day of Yennayer therefore corresponds to January 12 of each year. It is celebrated with joy and jubilation in different regions of the country. Local traditions reappear and radiate again through this occasion which brings households together around hearty meals prepared with love and pride.
Fortunately, the event now occupies the place that suits it within society, since it enjoys a national celebration. This is an indisputable achievement which confirms the will of the State to consolidate the identity of the people in all its dimensions. A momentum that the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, has reinforced through numerous orientations aimed at intensifying the feeling of belonging to a nation unified by its wealth and its differences. In addition to the sectoral programs developed for this purpose, the Head of State never misses the opportunity to present his wishes to the Algerians on the occasion of the Amazigh New Year. He never ceased, moreover, to insist on the importance of ignoring the obstacles that prevent the beginning of the expected change and the emergence of the long-awaited new Algeria.
Its hobbyhorse: the promotion and protection of the components of national identity. This has been well and truly confirmed in the government’s new action plan, which contains an approach that gives special importance to the national religious referent and to the Arabic and Amazigh languages. This is likely to solidify the fabric of our nation’s identity. Algerians will therefore all say tomorrow Assegwas Ameggaz which means happy new year in Amazigh. Contrary to popular belief, Yennayer will not be celebrated only in Kabylie, but everywhere in Algeria. We feel unanimously concerned by this beautiful celebration which should mark both a change of season, but also of… mentalities. May 2972 be a year of prosperity for our country.
Source horizon.dz, translated by Hope.
