Yennayer in Marrakesh: Where the New Year Begins in the Kitchen
It is the evening of January 14 and the medina is loud with it. In Jemaa el-Fnaa the smoke from the food stalls hangs low over the crowd, drummers work the circle near the storytellers, and the smell of charcoal, cumin and boiling wheat drifts out through the souk entrances. This is Yennayer, the Amazigh New Year — an official paid national holiday in Morocco since 2024 — and Morocco, home to North Africa's largest Amazigh population, marks it in the streets, at the tables and in the music.
Come in 2027 and the date is fixed: January 14. What follows is what the country reliably does around it.
Eat the Dishes That Only Appear Once a Year
Yennayer is an agrarian new year, and its food is not everyday food. This is the night to seek out the dishes that mark the turning of the year:
- Orikmen (irkmen) — a thick soup of wheat and dried fava beans, eaten only on the first day of the Amazigh New Year. Look for it on January 14 in the family-run kitchens of the medina and in the riads and restaurants that put on a Yennayer menu.
- Tagola — corn kernels mixed with argan oil, ghee and honey, worked together with butter. Sweet, rich, and served in the home rather than the restaurant.
- Couscous (seksou) with chicken — traditionally prepared on the night of January 12 in the southeast as "Id Suggas". In Marrakesh you will find it on tables across the city through the Yennayer period; couscous was inscribed on the UNESCO cultural heritage lists in December 2020.
Watch for the ritual that goes with it: a date seed ('ighs') or a piece of almond ('alluz') is hidden in the couscous. Whoever finds it is entrusted with the keys to the family food store, the lakhzin, and is believed blessed for the year. If you are invited to a table, eat slowly.
Hear the Music and Join the Circle
Amazigh New Year celebrations across Morocco include communal feasts, dancing, traditional games, horse parades, and songs of love, fertility and prosperity. In Marrakesh, the natural place to find the public face of it is Jemaa el-Fnaa — the city's great open square, where the drum circles, musicians and performers gather nightly and where the crowd swells on a holiday. Go after dark, when the square is at its densest, and stay for the music.
Beyond the square, check locally on arrival for concerts and gatherings at the city's cultural venues and the Amazigh cultural associations that operate in and around Marrakesh. The holiday itself was announced by the royal palace in May 2023 and confirmed by Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch, under Decree No. 2.23.1000.
Know the Date — and the Discrepancy Behind It
Yennayer is the Amazigh word for January, and the holiday marks the start of the Amazigh agrarian new year, based on the Julian solar calendar. The twelve-day gap between the Julian and Gregorian calendars is why the traditional observance falls on January 12.
- Morocco: January 14 — an official paid national holiday since 2024, announced by the royal palace in May 2023 and confirmed by Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch, under Decree No. 2.23.1000.
- Algeria: January 12 — a paid non-working day since the 2017 announcement by President Bouteflika, with the bill adopted by the Council of the Nation on 30 May 2018.
Some historians trace the calendar back to 950 BC, when King Chachnaq defeated the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses III and established a monarchy stretching from Libya to Egypt. The Amazigh — the word means "free man" — are the descendants of North Africa's pre-Arab inhabitants, with communities across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mali, Niger, the Canary Islands, the Egyptian desert and northern Burkina Faso. Their language and culture were long marginalised in favour of Arabic and French; the King's 2001 Ajdir speech is cited as a landmark in their recognition. Yennayer's elevation to a national holiday is the latest chapter in that story, and Marrakesh is one of the best places to see it observed.
Build Your Days Around the Medina
The celebrations are not confined to a single venue, so plan your time around the parts of the city where Yennayer is most visible. The medina — the walled old city — is where you will find the food, the family tables and the souks at their busiest. Jemaa el-Fnaa is the evening gathering point. The riads and restaurants of the medina and the surrounding neighbourhoods are where Yennayer menus appear around January 14.
January is a cool month in Marrakesh, so pack for walking the souks by day and standing in the square by night.
Start Planning for January 2027
Yennayer 2027 falls on January 14, a fixed national holiday, and Marrakesh is one of the best places to see it observed — with food that appears only once a year, music in the square, and the medina at its most alive. Book a riad in the old city, plan to be in Jemaa el-Fnaa after dark, and keep January 14 free for the table. The rest you can find on arrival.