Traditional sports and games

Mrengué, the boxing of festive nights

Mrengué (or moringué) is a form of bare-handed fighting practised in the Comoros and Mayotte, a cousin of the traditional boxing of Madagascar and Réunion. Bouts take place in the evening, sometimes until late at night, in the middle of a circle formed by the spectators and to the rhythm of percussion. Two referees separate the fighters when tempers flare; kicks and chokeholds are forbidden. In the past, it was also used to settle disputes between neighbours or to prove one's strength. Bouts often end with an embrace.

Very popular during Ramadan, mrengué also attracts women fighters. After incidents, some municipalities have banned it at certain times: ask locally before going to watch.

Outrigger canoe races

Hollowed out of a tropical almond or mango tree trunk and stabilised by an outrigger, the traditional canoe (laka in Shimaore) was long the working boat of the archipelago's fishermen. Challenged by motorboats, it is enjoying a second life as a sport. Since 2022, the town of Mamoudzou has held a canoe race on its seafront every October: crews of three paddlers, with two substitutes, compete on a 3 km loop for adults and companies, and a 600 m loop for young people aged 14 to 17. The first edition, on 16 October 2022, drew nearly 1,000 visitors; the fifth was held on 4 October 2026.

Mraha, the seed game

On the squares of the old towns, players bent over a wooden board hollowed with holes move seeds around: this is mraha (mraha wa tso, “the game with seeds”), a sowing game very close to the bao of Zanzibar. Each player has an inner row and an outer row; the aim is to empty the opponent's inner row of its seeds. The games are fast and played under the gaze of connoisseurs.