Mwaka Kogwa

An old calendar

The people of Zanzibar and Pemba continue to use an ancient solar calendar that they acquired from the Persians. Makunduchi, the old settlement of the Wahadimu, among the island’s original inhabitants, is best known for Mwaka Kogwa, a New Year celebration of Shirazi and Swahili heritage. Across the islands, New Year customs have included putting out fires, scattering ashes at crossroads, dusting ash against the walls of houses, bathing in the sea and holding feasts.

The festival was originally part of a larger set of agrarian ceremonies meant to call on the help and protection of the spirits for the prosperity of the nation and its people. Only the New Year celebration remains today, and in recent years it has grown in importance rather than faded.

Battle, fire and smoke

At Mwaka Kogwa a ritual battle is fought, and at its end a hut is burned. Predictions for the new year are then made from the direction taken by the smoke. Tours are organised for visitors to see the festival and have its customs explained.

The people of Makunduchi also keep two other traditions. Two men are placed inside a small shelter made of dried coconut leaves, which is set on fire while stones are thrown into the flames; the men are meant to stay inside but slip out through the back. Afterwards the elders dance around the grave of a long-dead patriarch whose name has been forgotten.