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Next: 12 Jan 2027

Yennayer

The Amazigh new year: a family couscous with seven vegetables, dried fruits and nuts, and the start of the farming year.

Yennayer: Some Berber calendars
Photo: Vermondo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

When is Yennayer in 2027?

Yennayer 2027 is on Tuesday, 12 January 2027. Other years: 2026, Monday, 12 January 2026; 2028, Wednesday, 12 January 2028.

About Yennayer

Yennayer, the first day of the year in the Amazigh (Berber) agricultural calendar, falls on 12 January in the Gregorian calendar, and is observed in Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia and by Amazigh communities elsewhere. It is a family holiday that marks the middle of winter and the hope for a good harvest. Women prepare a feast, with couscous served with seven vegetables or with chicken or lamb, and special sweets such as tamina, made from semolina, honey and butter, and a mix of dried fruits and nuts which are cracked with the children. In some villages, a ritual cleans the house and a first sweep of the year is avoided. Algeria declared it a public holiday in 2018, and Morocco in 2023. Greetings are "Asegwas ameggaz", "happy new year".

Yennayer dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

YearYennayer date
2026Monday, 12 January 2026
2027Tuesday, 12 January 2027
2028Wednesday, 12 January 2028

What is eaten

  • couscous
  • tamina
  • dried fruit
  • nuts

Also part of it, and being written: Amazigh calendar (The agricultural calendar of the new year.), Couscous (The festival dish.), Berbers (The Amazigh people.).

More marked on Yennayer

🇩🇿 Algeria and 3 moreBerber calendarⵜⴰⵙⵡⴰⵙⵜ ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ (taswast tamaziɣt) An agricultural timekeeping system used by the Amazigh people of North Africa to mark seasons and farming cycles.Seasonal · Dinner 🇩🇿 Algeria and 4 moreYennayerⵢⵏⵏⴰⵢⵔ The Amazigh New Year celebrated across North Africa with feasts and blessing ritesSeasonal · Dinner 🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreTweezaتويزة A North African tradition of communal voluntary work, mutual aid and shared harvestsCeremony · Dinner
About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background: "Yennayer" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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