Main events
Apart from the religious holidays specific to the Muslim calendar, festivities and other cultural events are rather rare in Mauritania. With the exception of the date festival, the Guetna, which any self-respecting Mauritanian would not miss for anything in the world! This event is celebrated in all regions of the country. In July or August, depending on rainfall and weather conditions, the date palms are honored and deliver their first dates during a great ceremony that is celebrated in all towns and villages in the bush that have a palm grove. It is an opportunity to meet the family and dance to the rhythms and songs of the griots, in the cool of the night, gathered around the fire. The tradition wants that one keeps the stone of the first date of the year as a good luck charm.
Public holidays
Friday, the day of the great collective prayer, and Saturday are public holidays. The week officially begins on Sunday.
Civil holidays
New Year's Day: January1st.
Labor Day: May1st.
Organization of African Unity Day: May 25
Independence Day: November 28
Religious holidays
In the Muslim religion, the Hegira calendar refers to the day Muhammad fled from Mecca to Medina. The first year of the Hegira began on July 16, 622. The year is divided into 12 months, but these are aligned with the movement of the Moon and not the Sun. Thus, the months last 29 or 30 days, and a lunar year lasts 354.5 days on average, against 365.25 days on average in the solar calendar, a difference of 10.75 days. To determine the Hegira year we are in, we only need to solve the following equation: Hegira year = (Christian year - 622)/0.97. Thus: (2023 - 622)/0.97 = 1444. So it is 1444 according to the Hegira calendar. Similarly, the Muslim New Year is 10.75 days before the previous year in the Christian calendar.
Eid-el-Kebir commemorates the sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham in obedience to a divine command, when God, pleased with his submission, sent him a ram to be sacrificed instead of his son. It is also called the "Feast of the Sheep", since on this day each family sacrifices a sheep. June 29, 2023.
1st Moharram. Muslim New Year. July 18, 2023. It will celebrate the entry into the year 1445.
Achouara. It is the tenth day of the year. It is originally the anniversary of the death of Hussein, the Prophet's grandson, in 680.
Mouloud. This holiday commemorates the birth of Muhammad. It will take place on September 26, 2023 (plus or minus one day).
Eid el-Seghir or Eid el-Fitr. It is the "small festival", which closes Ramadan. It will take place on April 9, 2024.
Ramadan will begin on March 11, 2024. Breaking the fast one month later.
Timetable