A New Year means new hope and endless possibilities await everyone. It is a chance to make the most out of the coming year.
For many, it is a time to let go of their past and turn over a new leaf. So, the New Year is always ushered in with a bang.
The Nayrouz is known in Swahili as Mwaka Kogwa, which literally translates to “washing of the year” and it is celebrated from July 23rd or 24th to August. The celebration lasts about four days and it is celebrated in most parts of Zanzibar. The Zanzibaris go all out for this festival on the island, but the epicentre of the celebrations is in the village of Makunduchi, in southern Unguja.
Many people flock in from all over Tanzania to witness these incredible festivities where men whip each other with banana stalks and deemed as a purification ritual to end all grudges with the other person as the New Year is ushered in. Specific rituals are performed to bring in good luck from the coming year amidst merry making, singing, dancing and feasting that are performed.
On the first day, the play fight ceremony takes place in Kae Kuu, a large open space in the center of town where the men are permitted to vent their anger from the previous year.
Previously, real weapons like sticks were used in the play fight, but the people found it violent and opted for a less violent option, banana leaves. At that time the fight was between a pair of brothers and another from the south to engage in the physical battle.
