Famadihana- Madagascar
Among its people, the Famadihana Festival is known as the turning of bones festival. The festival is a time of dancing with the dead where many rituals are performed by the traditional heads of families to honour loved ones who have died.
Unlike many festivals that are celebrated annually, the Famadihana is celebrated every seven years. In the process of celebration, families are expected to open crypts or burial grounds and wrap the remains of the dead in new cloth. It is believed to be a way of keeping the house of the dead clean and reconnecting with them after several years.
The festival s still very celebrated in Madagascar but has seen a drastic decline with the introduction of Christianity into the country.
