Yennayer 2973: Ghardaïa will host the official festivities
The wilaya of Ghardaïa will host the official festivities of Yennayer, the Amazigh New Year, officially celebrated every January 12 in Algeria since 2018, through a cultural and scientific program highlighting the tradition and historical depth of this ancestral festival, announced Monday at Algiers e Secretary General of the High Commission for Amazighity (HCA), Si El Hachemi Assad.
Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Assad outlined Yennayer's program of celebrations on January 11-12 in Ghardaia, which will also host the President of the Republic's Prize for Literature ceremony and the Amazigh language in its third edition.
Folklore and street art demonstrations, exhibitions, highlighting local heritage and know-how, and conferences on Amazigh culture in manuscripts, are on the program of these official festivities of Yennayer 2973, placed under the sign "Yennayer brings us together ". Recalling the historical depth of Yennayer, consecrated since 2018 as a national holiday, the SG of the HCA praised the "sincere and frank interest granted by the authorities to Amazighity as an element of identity, history and authenticity" which is part of a "project civilizational and translates the rootedness of the Algerian culture”.
This desire, he said, is reflected in the efforts of "all the institutions of the State which contribute, each on its own, to the promotion and strengthening of the feeling of belonging to Algeria".
On this register, Mr. Assad, recalled a series of projects carried out for the generalization and promotion of the Amazigh language in the public space, in particular the opening of two university departments of translation (from and to Tamazight) in Bejaïa and Tizi Ouzou, as well as the forthcoming launch of an electronic newspaper in the Amazigh language.
Referring to the President of the Republic's Prize for Amazigh literature and language, Mr. Assad said that this high distinction this year aroused "great enthusiasm" from authors and academics, with a "record participation of 132 literary works ". "It is a high distinction which aims to encourage and support authors, men of letters and researchers who work for the development of the Amazigh language", he said.
In response to a question on the renewal for the second consecutive time of the jury, chaired by the academic and specialist in Amazigh literature, Youcef Necib, Mr. Assad explained the choice of the HCA, by the criteria of competence, probity and the intellectual integrity of its members, mostly academicians and university students.
Source: websites