Madagascar's independence jubilee: a nation's holiday in times of crisis

The fiftieth anniversary of Madagascar's independence in 2010 took place in the midst of political crisis. The transitory government staged large public parties to mark the Jubilee. Despite a public discussion about legitimacy and justification of this fact, the national holiday was lavishly celebrated. In Madagascar, Independence Day is also an important family event and emphasis was put on private celebrations including family feasts and reunions. As a result, it enhanced the participants' emotional attachment to their personal and local face‐to‐face milieu. This article asks how the golden jubilee was celebrated against a backdrop of political illegitimacy. I contrast official state‐led initiatives and individual agency in the private sphere and discuss how the national holiday has been appropriated and reinterpreted by the population as a family and community holiday. This article is based on qualitative ethnographical fieldwork in Antananarivo before, during and after the peak of the independence jubilee.