Berber calendar December - 13 January), and 20 "black nights" (Berber: "iḍan tiberkanin/isṭṭafen", Arabic "al-lyali al-sud"), beginning on the first day of "yennayer", corresponding to the Gregorian 14 January. The first day of the year is celebrated in various ways in the different parts of North Africa. A widespread tradition is a meal with particular foods, which vary from region to region (such as a couscous with seven vegetables). In some regions, it is marked by the sacrifice of an animal (usually a chicken). In Algeria, such a holiday is celebrated even by many people who don't use the Berber calendar in
Berber Academy Berber dialects. Periodically, and often in Tifinagh, the organization published the journal "Imazighen". The academy also proposed the design of the Berber flag. Berber Academy The Berber Academy (;) is a cultural association founded in 1966 by Mohand Arav Bessaoud and a group of young Kabyles, including Ramdane Haifi. This group consisted of intellectuals, artists and journalists, all eager to put the Tifinagh in use. Fearing misuse of the term "academy", they renamed the association Agraw Imaziɣen (Berber Assembly) in 1967. This was dissolved in 1978. The Academy proposed a Berber alphabet standard on the basis of Tifinagh circulated in