it upon attendees to purify and bless them and ensure an auspicious start to the year. Children would celebrate the fandroana by carrying lighted torches and lanterns in a nighttime processional through their villages. The zebu meat eaten over the course of the festival was primarily grilled or consumed as jaka, a preparation reserved uniquely for this holiday. Jaka was prepared during the festival by sealing shredded zebu meat with suet in a decorative clay jar; this confit would then be conserved in an underground pit for twelve months to be served at the next year's fandroana. In November 1943, a fandroana was held in Toulouse by the authorities of Vichy France. The Chef d'état Philippe Pétain was dressed as a Merina king and received a wooden zebu sculpture from the tirailleurs malgaches (Malagasy soldiers) stranded in France after the British invasion of Madagascar. References New Year celebrations Malagasy culture