Madagascar Independence Day
June 26 · Level 6 · #959 of 2238
This is Madagascar's main national holiday. On 26 June 1960 the island stopped being a French colony and became an independent country, and Malagasy people remember that road to freedom.
How it is celebrated: the capital, Antananarivo, hosts official ceremonies, flag raising and a military parade. Across the country there is music, and people put on their best clothes, including the traditional lamba wrap, and gather with their families.
The first president of independent Madagascar was Philibert Tsiranana. The island is the fourth largest in the world, and lemurs live in the wild nowhere else.