The Malagasy people celebrate New Year’s Day along with the rest of the world from midnight on December 31 through January 1. Family visits, eating out and street parties mark the occasion.

Alahamadi Be is Madagascar’s traditional New Year’s Day, which takes place in March and lasts for two days. Crowds hit the street in celebration, homes are decorated in lights and friends and family visit to wish eachother well. Traditional music and dance plays a part in the festivities.

Also held in March on the 29th, Martyrs’ Day commemorates the 1947 rebellion against French colonial rule which eventually led to Madagascar’s independence after thousands of lives had been lost. The day is a public holiday in which the dead are memorialized for their sacrifices.

The most important Christian festival of the year, Easter falls either in March or April, and is marked by religious services at Madagascar’s many churches and cathedrals.

The Santabary Festival is ancient in origin, and takes place in late April/early May to give thanks for the year’s first rice harvest. Eating, drinking, traditional music and dance are all part of the celebrations, and local customs vary across the country.

Labour Day, held on May 1, is a national holiday, with city folks taking the time to visit the countryside and beaches for picnics and a day of relaxation.

Independence Day in Madagascar is June 26, a national holiday which commemorates the country’s final shaking of colonial rule. It’s celebrated all across the archipelago with feasting, drinking, music, and dance.

The carnival atmosphere of Feria Oramena held in June focuses on Madagascar’s favorite seafood, lobsters. Shows, exhibitions and lots of fish dishes are enjoyed by all.

The Fisemana festival, held by the Antakarana people, is a purification ritual taking place every June. The customs go back centuries and are performed by local soothsayers.

This traditional event, known as the turning of the bones, is a three-month family-oriented ritual beginning in June in Madagascar. The bodies of recently-passed family members and ancestors are taken from the crypt, re-dressed in silk shrouds and reburied.

This much-loved July event is a traditional form of entertainment in Madagascar, first seen in the 18th century. Competing players perform a five-themed spectacle of oratory, dance, music, drinking and eating contests amid much merriment.

Held in September at the Hell-Ville Stadium on Nosy Be Island, the Donia Music Festival is a combination of Malagasy music, sport and cultural events. The festivities last for a full week and draw in over 40,000 spectators.

October’s Maddajazzcar is a massive, two-week long celebration of jazz held in venues all over the capital. International musicians, singers and thousands of visitors attend the events.

The second major Christian festival in Madagascar, Christmas is a time of church services, Yuletide parties and family festivities across the country.

Antananarivo receives practically all of its average annual 1.4 meters of rainfall between November and April. The dry season is pleasant and sunny, although somewhat chilly, especially in the mornings. Although frosts are rare in Antananarivo, they are common at higher elevations. During this time, the blue skies of the central highlands around Antananarivo are considered by many to be among the clearest and most beautiful in the world.

The west coast is drier than either the east coast or the central highlands because the trade winds lose their humidity by the time they reach this region. The southwest and the extreme south are semidesert; as little as one-third of a meter of rain falls annually at Toliara. Overall, surface water is most abundant along the east coast and in the far north (with the exception of the area around Cap d'Ambre, which has relatively little surface water). Amounts diminish to the west and south, and the driest regions are in the extreme south.

Madagascar suffers the impact of cyclones from time to time. From February 2-4, 1994, Madagascar was struck by Cyclone Geralda, the worst cyclone to come ashore on the island since 1927. The cyclone killed seventy people and destroyed enough property to leave approximately 500,000 homeless, including 30,000 in Antananarivo and 80,000 in Toamasina. The cyclone also significantly damaged the country's infrastructure, most notably coastal roads, railroads, and telecommunications, as well as agriculture. Damage has been estimated at US$45 million, and the World Bank (see Glossary) International Development Association and various European organizations are engaged in financing the reconstruction. The Madagascar government will contribute US$6 million toward the infrastructure rehabilitation.

Tourist establishments tend to serve meals with the rice-to-accompaniment ratio turned on its head. These dishes tend to have a French influence and fries are often offered in place of rice.

Zebu (beef) steaks are usually excellent and most commonly served with a delicious creamy green peppercorn sauce. On the coast, seafood naturally predominates, including all manner of fish, as well as lobster and shellfish. Pizza is popular everywhere. Most towns have cheap Chinese eateries, which are usually reliable and popular with independent travellers.

Note that more isolated hotels tend to offer a set menu or a very limited choice to their guests. Even restaurants with an apparently extensive menu may have a rather restricted number of dishes available outside peak tourist season.

Vegetarians can usually be accommodated without too much fuss, even if there are no vegetarian dishes explicitly listed on the menu. Travellers with more unusual dietary requirements, such as a peanut allergy, would be well advised to find out the Malagasy and French words for what they cannot eat and write them down on a card, so that their needs can be communicated unequivocally to waiters and chefs.

Street snacks include slices of coconut and peanuts in a sweet coconut or toffee coating. If you spot a man carrying a glass case on his head, he is probably selling koba (banana, peanuts and rice, ground to a paste, wrapped in a banana leaf and served in slices), sambos (samosas) or nems (spring rolls).