The Amazigh New Year festivities began on Monday in the province of Khenifra, with a series of festive and cultural activities on the menu which give pride of place to the Amazigh identity as one of the tributaries of the national cultural identity.
At the heart of these festivities initiated by the Association Esprit d’Ajdir de Khénifra in partnership with the municipal and provincial councils of Khénifra under the theme “Amazigh… a living conscience for a united Morocco”a series of cultural and scientific activities that celebrate the transition to the year 2975 of the Amazigh calendar through craft exhibitions and conferences on Amazigh history and heritage.
The program of activities celebrating this New Year with great pomp includes a scientific seminar led by a group of teachers and university researchers under the theme “The Amazigh language… from constitutionalization to the implementation of official character”exhibitions highlighting Amazigh ethnographic and calligraphic tools, musical documents from the region as well as other components of the Zayanes heritage in addition to artistic evenings highlighting the contributions of artists and poets who have enriched the literary, musical and artistic heritage.
The president of the Esprit d’Ajdir Atlas Association in Khénifra, Mohamed Yassine, in a statement to MAP, affirmed that the Association is celebrating this year the Amazigh New Year as a major component of the authentic Moroccan identity, rich in its many tributaries, and as a common good for all Moroccans without exception, noting that the Foundation has concocted an eclectic program including various scientific and cultural activities which celebrate Amazigh heritage in its multiple facets.
Mr. Yassine specified that to give real impetus to these festivities, the Foundation decided to organize exhibitions highlighting the contributions of women in the field of clothing and that of local products in addition to other exhibitions which reflect the diversity and richness of Amazigh culture.
-For his part, Hamid El Babur, president of the Khenifra Provincial Council, stressed that this celebration has particular significance for the province in view of the historical role of the city of Khenifra in the preservation of Amazigh culture.
The opening ceremony of these festivities was marked by the presence, in addition to the governor of the province of Khénifra, of elected officials, several civil and military personalities, researchers and academics and actors of Amazigh culture and activists of civil society.
A strong tribute was paid at the end of this ceremony to Miloud Taifi, author of the famous “Berber-French reasoned dictionary”who marked a major turning point in the study and preservation of the Amazigh language and whose work contributed to strengthening the understanding of this language in Morocco and beyond.
Moroccans celebrated the Amazigh New Year on Tuesday as an official national paid holiday, like the first Moharram of the Hegira year and New Year’s Day of the Gregorian calendar.
