Persian New Year 2024: What is Nowruz spring festival all about?
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Lots of people gather to watch fireworks and water shows for Nowruz
Fireworks, light shows, and even celebrations with people jumping over fire are happening across the world for Nowruz, a festival marking the Persian New Year.
It's a celebration which goes back over 3,000 years, which makes it one of the oldest festivals in the world.
It happens every year in the build up to the first day of spring, which varies between the 19th and 21st of March. This year, that's on Wednesday 20 March.
Nowruz, which roughly means New Day, is celebrated by lots of people across the Middle East, including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and many other countries.
Persians, Parsees, Kurds, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Tajiks, Kazakhs, Uzbeks and many more cultures celebrate this special occasion and have their own traditions surrounding it.
What happens during Nowruz?
A haft-sin table display
Just like Christmas, Eid and many other celebrations, Nowruz includes family gatherings and parties with lots of special food.
One of the special dinners is haft-sin where seven items starting with the letter 'S' in Persian are laid out - these include apples, garlic, vinegar and a sweet pudding which are displayed on a table.
Did you know?
Nowruz happens during the Spring Equinox, which is when the sun's direct rays start hitting the northern hemisphere, and is the official 'start' of spring.
The Spring Equinox is celebrated by other religions and cultures around the world. In the UK, it's the first day that we start having an equal amount of daylight and night-time through the day.
A goldfish bowl can sometimes appear too, with the fish representing life.
Goldfish bought during Nowruz are traditionally released into the wild on the thirteenth and final day of the festival but in recent years supporters of animal rights have called for that practice to stop, as the fish often die.
What do people eat at Nowruz?
According to British-Iranian chef, Sabrina Ghayour the main traditional Nowruz meal consists of sabzi polo (an aromatic herb rice), mahi (fish, sometimes smoked), plus kuku sabzi, kotlet, salad shirazi, reshteh polo and plenty of fresh herbs, paneer (feta), naan (Persian flatbread), torobcheh (radishes), gerdoo (fresh walnuts) and peeyazcheh (spring onions) all arranged on a plate.
From BBC Food
Fire jumping
Nowruz fire jumping - Don't try this at home!
In the build up to Nowruz people celebrate by jumping over burning fires.
This custom is said to burn away negative things from the past so you can start fresh for spring.
How long does Nowruz go on for?
These children are dressed up to take part in Nowruz celebrations in Dushanbe, capital and largest city of Tajikistan.
Nowruz was originally linked to the Zoroastrian faith, which preceded both Christianity and Islam.
It has been proclaimed an official UN observance day since 2010 because it promotes peace and focuses on cultural diversity and friendship among different peoples and communities.
The Nowruz holidays last thirteen days. On the thirteenth day of the New Year, Iranians leave their houses to enjoy nature and picnic outdoors, as part of the Sizdebedar ceremony.
Families also sometimes play pranks and jokes on each other.
- Published12 February
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