Regional/Cultural Day
Fetin'ny Mpitondra Fitanana
The anniversary of the 1947 uprising against French colonial rule, which was brutally suppressed (over 100,000 Malagasy were killed). The uprising began in the east of the island and spread to the central highlands, and the French response was disproportionate and devastating. The day is observed with ceremonies at the Monument of the Martyrs in Moramanga, and the names of the dead are read aloud. The 1947 uprising is the founding myth of Malagasy independence, and the memory is still alive in every town and village on the island.