The year as a filmstrip
The year is a film. Each feast day is a frame. Drag the strip beneath the playhead — it opens on today.
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2026
The house almanac
a film in 23 frames
JanuaryREEL 01
FRAME 01 / 23FIXED
Independence Day
1804
Soup joumou, begun on the night of the 31st. The act: the children wash the squash and crush the spices.
Lanterns and feasts
FRAME 02 / 23FIXED
Ancestors' Day
The act: say the names of the elders who have gone, out loud, one by one, with their photographs.
Lanterns and feasts
FRAME 03 / 23FIXED
Epiphany
Cake, small gifts, the fanal lanterns come down. The act: close the festive season together.
Lanterns and feasts
FebruaryREEL 02
FRAME 04 / 23MOVABLE
Carnival
Mardi Gras
The act: make the mask at home with paper and paste. Carnival music all weekend.
FRAME 05 / 23MOVABLE
Rara begins
Ash Wednesday
The one festival that runs for months. The act: vaksin horns and drums every weekend until Easter.
Rara season
MarchREEL 03
FRAME 06 / 23FIXED
Constitution Day
1987
The act: a conversation about how a country is made, not only how it is freed.
AprilREEL 04
FRAME 07 / 23MOVABLE
Rara at its height
Good Friday
The high point of the season. The act: go out and find a band, or play rara loud at home.
Rara season
FRAME 08 / 23FIXED
Toussaint's Death
1803
Fort de Joux, in the cold, without victory. The act: tell the story as it actually is.
MayREEL 05
FRAME 09 / 23FIXED
Labour and Agriculture Day
1 May
The act: plant something real. We follow that plant for the rest of the year.
FRAME 10 / 23FIXED
Flag Day
Arcahaie, 1803
The act: raise the flag in the morning. Sew one together out of cloth.
FRAME 11 / 23MOVABLE
Mother's Day
The act: the child prepares something by hand rather than buying it.
JuneREEL 06
FRAME 12 / 23MOVABLE
Father's Day
The act: what is made by hand is worth more than what is bought.
JulyREEL 07
FRAME 13 / 23FIXED
Saut-d'Eau
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
The act: if you are not in Haiti, go to running water that same day.
FRAME 14 / 23FIXED
Saint James the Greater
Ogou
Red, iron, courage. The act: a story of courage at the table tonight.
AugustREEL 08
FRAME 15 / 23FIXED
Bois Caïman
1791
The act: tell the story in the dark, with a single light.
FRAME 16 / 23FIXED
Assumption
A day of rest after the night of Bwa Kayiman.
SeptemberREEL 09
LIVE FRAME2026
Today
NOW ROLLING
Kreyòl at the table · A story before sleep
Music in the house: twoubadou, kompa, rasin.
Music in the house: twoubadou, kompa, rasin.
FRAME 17 / 23FIXED
Dessalines's Birth
1758
The act: a feast of beginnings, not a day of mourning.
OctoberREEL 10
FRAME 18 / 23FIXED
Dessalines Day
1806
The act: ask the question: what happens after a country is freed?
NovemberREEL 11
FRAME 19 / 23FIXED
Fèt Gede
1 and 2 Nov
Purple and black. The act: a table with photographs of those who have gone, and food for them.
Gede
FRAME 20 / 23FIXED
Battle of Vertières
1803
The last battle. The act: close the cycle that opened on 14 August.
DecemberREEL 12
FRAME 21 / 23FIXED
Fanal season
Jacmel
The act: make a fanal by hand each year, and keep them.
Lanterns and feasts
FRAME 22 / 23FIXED
Christmas
24 and 25
Goat, kremas, pen patat. The act: cook them at home, don't buy them.
Lanterns and feasts
FRAME 23 / 23FIXED
The Vigil
31 December
Stay up; the soup cooks through the night. The act: the year closes in the same pot it opened in.
Lanterns and feasts
End
A tradition begins
when the child asks for it
before you do
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The almanac is held to the same standard as the rest of the canon: what is documented, what is contested, and what rests on practice and memory. No date is promoted a grade without something to show for it.
Verified15Probable3Oral History4Disputed1