The best parties Mauritius

Like the abolition of slavery, this festival is more of a symbolic anniversary than a large gathering. It commemorates the arrival of the first Indian immigrants on Mauritian soil. It is celebrated at the Aapravasi Ghat in Port-Louis, precisely where hundreds of thousands of immigrants landed between 1849 and 1920 to work in the sugarcane fields in place of former slaves, a period known as "engagism".

Like that of the Arrival of the Indian Immigrants in November, it is a commemorative festival which does not give rise to major events, but which has a national resonance. It celebrates the end of slavery in Mauritius in 1835 and at the same time recalls the sufferings endured by Mauritians of African origin. It is celebrated at the International Monument of the Slave Route on the Morne Peninsula, where several colonies of slaves hid to escape their dark condition. Le Morne is itself a Unesco World Heritage Site.

On September 9, Catholics flocked to the tomb of Father Laval, the apostle of the Blacks, at Sainte-Croix in Port Louis. After having been a doctor in France, Jacques-Désiré Laval became a priest in 1838 and arrived in Mauritius as a missionary in 1841. Until his death on September 9, 1964, he preached in the Creole community. His death triggered an intense movement of popular fervor to the point that his tomb became a place of pilgrimage. Father Laval was beatified on April 29, 1979.

It is the Hindu New Year, celebrated mainly by the Telugu community which has some 70,000 members in Mauritius. It aims to honour the creation of the world by Brahma and to start the new year positively. The days before, the house is cleaned from top to bottom and even repainted. On the same day, everyone takes a bath and wears new clothes. The threshold is decorated with mango leaves and flowers and also with mugu (a coloured rice decoration) to welcome God and guests. People gather, pray and make good resolutions.