Yennayer January 12

In some regions, Yennayer is preceded by imensi n yennayer (literally “Yennayer’s dinner”) which takes place on the eve of the Amazigh New Year. The participants gather and wait, through different events, for the coming of the new year.

The meal, prepared for the occasion, is quite copious and different from everyday life. For the preparation of "imensi n yennayer", the Kabyle uses the meat of the sacrificed animal (asfel), often poultry, sometimes mixed with dried meat (acedluh) to enhance the couscous, a fundamental element of Berber culinary art. The wealthiest displays his difference. He sacrifices one poultry per member of the family.

On the other hand, the first yennayer following the birth of a boy was of great importance. The father gives the newborn his first haircut and marks the event by buying a bull's head. This rite augurs the child's role as future leader of the village. It is repeated during the boy's first outing to the market. It is transposed, under the same conditions, to the Muslim festival of Achoura, in certain Berber-speaking localities.

"Imensi n yennayer" continues late into the night and satiety is required. It is even disparaging for the mistress of the house (tamghart n wexxam) not to be satisfied. It is also a meal of communion. It is taken as a family. Spoons are placed around the common dish to signal their presence.

Through the guardian genies, the invisible forces participate in the feast by placing small quantities in specific places, the threshold of the door, the stone mill with grains, the foot of the trunk of the old olive tree, etc. and the place of the loom which must be imperatively removed upon the arrival of Yennayer. Otherwise the invisible forces would risk getting tangled in the threads and would get angry. Which is bad for the omens.

For the Kabyle, "amenzu n yennayer" determines the end of plowing and marks the middle of the wet cycle. The foods used during this month are the same as those of the plowing period. The food taken is boiled, steamed or leavened. Foods that increase in volume when cooked are a good omen. The predicted harvest will be large in quantity. The different kinds of couscous, pancakes, porridge, etc., and the dried vegetables that garnish them appear. The desserts served will be dried fruits (dried figs, dried apricots, nuts, etc.) from the past harvest, gathered in large and big earthenware jugs with a navel used to remove the contents (ikufan).

During the month of Yennayer, children in Kabylie and Oranie dressed up (each made their own mask) and roamed the village streets. Going from house to house, they begged for sfendj donuts or semolina pastries cooked lemsemmen for which people obliged themselves to give. By this gesture of offering, the Berber of Kabylie weaves, with the invisible forces, a contract of alliance which places the new year under happy auspices.

This rite, like that of the first haircut of the newborn, is transposed to Ashura and taken up again during the ploughing period. The peasant distributes humble offerings to passers-by on his way and leaves small quantities of food in holy places, on his way to his fields. Amenzu n yennayer marked all the Berber-speaking regions with games linked to the dead returning to Earth: the carnival of Tlemcen, the taγisit (bone) games of the women of Ghadamès…