Person covering their face with leaves

Saint Pierre - Saint-Pierre - Réunion

After 17 days of "Lent" (prayers, rites, abstinence) and a long procession along the sea or in a river bed, the penitents are ready to live the purification ritual of the Fire Walk. On the day of the ceremony, the Tikouli is prepared at dawn, the pit that is to house the fire, and then after the sacred rituals, the faithful marked with a red dot on their foreheads by the priest calmly cross the 5 to 6 meter long fire, sometimes wearing a Karlon (a conical flowery construction worn on the head by the faithful during various ceremonies). The festival concludes with the return to the temple and the final rituals of purification, and sometimes sacrifices of goats or roosters. The main firewalks take place every year between December and February and are a celebration that always attracts and fascinates spectators.