Nowruz Festival- The Persian New Year (Update 2024)

Update Date: September 25, 2024

What do you know about Nowruz festival? What is Nowruz and why it is celebrated? Do you know which countries celebrate Nowruz festival? Do you know it is customary to say صد سال به از این سالها /sad sal beh az in salha/ to each other at Nowruz gatherings? Thereafter, keep reading to explore Iran and Nowruz festival from a new window.

In this situation, it seems that learning about their customs and traditions, culture, and history helps a lot. As you know, anthropology studies human development in a particular geography, climate, religion, and behavior.

Then, we can conclude that customs, traditions, rituals, and festivals are the main components for studying the culture of a society. In other words, the festivals show how people of each country tend to be together in a public condition and celebrate.

Furthermore, they share their happiness and sadness and reunion their beliefs. Equally important, one of the joyful festivals in each country is the time of the New Year. Every country has particular customs and traditions before, during, and after New Year. As a result, Iran, as an ancient country, celebrates Nowruz festival. Lets read about the story of Nowruz.

Nowruz Meaning

The word “Nowruz” (نوروز) is a combination of two Farsi words. The first part “نو “/no/, means new in Persian, and the second part “روز” /ruz/ means day.Therefore, Nowruz means a new day literally. The first day of spring is when the new year starts. Then according to Nowruz festival’s philosophy, Iranians believe that everything should become new when they are in the new year.

Nowruz Festival History

Nowruz festival is celebrated for over 3,000 years. Nowruz origins trace back to Zoroastrianism, the ancient religion of Persia (modern-day Iran). Nowruz marks the vernal equinox, occurring around March 20th or 21st, symbolizing the arrival of spring, the rebirth of nature, and the renewal of life.

The Nowruz festival’s roots can be found in the Achaemenid Empire (550-330 BC), but its traditions are believed to be even older. For ancient Persians, Nowruz represented the end of winter and the triumph of light over darkness. It was a time to celebrate the rejuvenation of the earth, clean homes, and plant new crops, signifying a fresh start.

One of the central traditions is the Haft-Seen table, which features seven items beginning with the Persian letter “س,” each symbolizing elements like health, prosperity, and renewal. Common items include sabzeh (sprouts), senjed (dried fruit), and seer (garlic). Nowruz is not only celebrated in Iran but also in several other countries influenced by Persian culture. Famous Nowruz celebrants are:

Tajikistan;
Pakistan;
Afghanistan;
India;
Iraq;
Russia.

Nowruz in India

In India, Nowruz festival is celebrated primarily by the Parsi and Iranian communities, marking the Persian New Year and the arrival of spring. Observed on March 21st or in mid-August by Parsis, Nowruz involves cleaning homes, setting up the Haft-Seen table with seven symbolic items, preparing festive foods, and engaging in fire rituals to symbolize purity. Nowruz in India blends Persian traditions with local customs, fostering community bonding and cultural preservation.

Nowruz shares thematic similarities with Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors, celebrated around the same time in March. Holi also marks the onset of spring and celebrates the victory of good over evil. The night before Holi, bonfires (Holika Dahan) are lit, reminiscent of the fire rituals in Nowruz festival. On Holi, people joyfully throw colored powders and water, dance to music, and share festive foods. Nowruz in India lasts for one day.

Nowruz in Afganistan

In Afghanistan, Nowruz festival, marking the Persian New Year and the arrival of spring, is a major celebration observed on March 21st. This ancient festival signifies renewal and rebirth, and Afghans celebrate it with various traditional customs and activities, including:

Gule Surkh Festival: A prominent event during Nowruz, this festival celebrates the blooming of red tulips. It involves music, dance, picnics, and outdoor activities, symbolizing the beauty of nature and the joy of spring;
Jashn-e Dehqan: Also known as the Farmer’s Day, Jashn-e Dehqan is celebrated on the first day of Nowruz festival to honor farmers and the agricultural heritage of Afghanistan. It includes agricultural fairs, displays of crops, and recognition of farmers’ contributions to society;
Haft Mewa: Instead of the Haft-Seen table seen in Iran, Afghans prepare Haft Mewa, a symbolic dish made from seven types of dried fruits and nuts soaked in water. The mixture typically includes raisins, dried apricots, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, oleaster berries, and red or black mulberries, representing sweetness, prosperity, and renewal.

When Nowruz Festival is celebrated in Iran?

As everybody knows, a complete year has four Seasons. In Iran, a year starts with spring which includes three months “Farvardin, Ordibehesht, and Khordad.” Subsequently, the summer season covers the months as “Tir, Mordad, and Shahrivar.”

The next one starts with “Mehr, Aban, and Azar.” The last season, winter, consists of three months “Dey, Bahman, and Esfand.” In ancient Iran, each month has unique features, and its name reflects particular philosophy and meaning.

Iranians celebrate the new year entirely on a different day than European countries. In other words, the first spring day is the new year, i.e., Farvardin 1. Iranians believe that while nature will be alive again in spring, it is the time for everyone to renew themselves.

In ancient Iran, people believed humans must stay in touch with nature to stay healthy and strong. In brief, the following table shows the Persian 12 months in a whole year. Persian New Year starts in Spring and Finishes in Winter.

Do you Like To Read More?

To learn more about the Persian calendar, national festivals, and many interesting facts, we highly recommend the e-book “Learn Farsi with Short Articles: Grow your vocabulary and learn Farsi the fun way” available on GetBookOnline Store. Grow your vocabulary & Learn Farsi the Fun Way

Learn Farsi by reading short articles about the Nowruz festival, etc.

Buy Now

Nowruz Festival in Iran

When Nowruz is approaching, almost one and a half months before the first day of Farvardin, people begin to get ready for spring and the new year. Let’s discover how Iranians prepare themselves for Nowruz- the Persian new year. In any case, to give a clear explanation, let’s divide the types of works into three main parts:

Before Nowruz;
On Nowruz days;
And after Nowruz.

What Activities Do People Do Before Nowruz?

The works that Iranian families do before Nowruz respectively include:

Spring Cleaning;
Buying New Clothes;
Chaharshanbe Souri;
Buying Pastries and Nuts.

Spring Cleaning

خانه تکانی /khane tekani/, /kh/ pronunciation is like the German word, Bach. Approximately from the last month of winter, people have good vibes to clean their houses from top to bottom. Indeed, they wash their windows, curtains, carpets, rugs, and sheets, deep clean the cupboards, and closets, and declutter bedrooms to welcome the new year with cleanliness.

These kinds of activities started one month before the New Year, are called spring cleaning. In this case, all family members give a hand to each other. Though spring cleaning is not an obligation, it has a good omens according to Iranians’ beliefs.

Buying New Clothes

Iranians make an enormous effort to buy new clothes and get dressed in their best style. They continuously go to shopping malls for خرید لباس نو /khæride lebase nou/. Of course, children are the priority; firstly, they buy all new things for their children.

The energy and excitement of Iranians in this time of the year, i.e., the last two months, Bahman and Esfand, is highly profound. In other words, if they don’t need new clothes,they will like to be in the shopping malls and look around.

By the way, some people believe that this hustle and bustle of malls and shopping centers cause blatancy and traffic congestion. Definitely, the majority of city dwellers go shopping for new clothes to look gorgeous. In fact, they believe that dressing well and looking fashionable shows their self-respect.

Iranians believe that with the growth of flowers and renovation of nature, they must change and appear more beautiful. In other words, spring informs people it’s better to burst into brightness.

Chaharshanbe Suri

The last Wednesday of the year is called Chaharshanbe Suri, چهارشنبه سوری /chaharʃænbe souri/ in Farsi. This is held on Tuesday night. Family members set a little fire in the yard to stand around and chant together. Although this ritual must be held safely and friendly, in recent years some young children have changed it to a very dangerous ritual.

The actual customs, which the elderlies know it very well, came in a separate article in detail. Zoroastrians believed that Fire is a truly a divine, pure, and respectful element. They sang “get away sadness and hyappiness come to me.”

Buying Pastries and Nuts

Nowruz is all about good vibes; making homemade pastries is one of the activities in some homes. Some other families prefer to buy pre-made pastries. Grandmothers usually like to make their own homemade pastries .The home would be full of the smell of kindness and pure love.

As a matter of fact, older Iranians can remember good memories from their childhood when their mothers made unique pastries for Nowruz festival. The pastries, chocolates, and nuts are on every Iranian’s shopping list before Nowruz begins.

The Most Common Nuts for Nowruz Festival

The mixture of the following items consists the snack for Iranians to entertain their guests, known as Nuts for Eid night (آجیل شب عید /adʒile ʃæbe eId/ in Persian):

Pistachio;
Hazelnut;
Almond;
Sunflower seed;
Roasted pumpkin seed;
Raisin;
Peanut;
and Jabani seed.

Jaban is the name of a village in Iran. In fact, the seeds taken from a kind of watermelon grown in the fields of Jaban are known as Jabani seeds. These watermelons are grown as the cattle’s food. Iranians just pronounce Jabani seed as Japanese seed, and surprisingly, even most Iranians consider these seeds came from Japan.

Nowruz Table

One common and stable thing in each part of this country is spreading a tablecloth on a table or on the ground named Haftseen or Seven S هفت سین /hæft sin/. They put some specific things that each one is a symbol of a concept. Nowruz Table has seven factors which start with the letter س /s/ ( letter س is one of the letters in the Persian Alphabet).

سبزه /sæbze/, (Grass): It is something green. It’s considered a symbol of vivacity;
سمنو /sæmænu/, (Made of wheat): It is a sort of sweet snack. Wheat is the main ingredient and is the symbol of blessing;
سنجد /sendʒed/, (oleaster): A symbol of good relationships and love;
سیب /sib/, (apple): A symbol of health;
سماق /somagh/, (sumac): A symbol of power in facing difficulties;
سیر /sir/, (garlic): A symbol of kicking disease;
سرکه /serke/, (vinegar): A symbol of overcoming obstacles and bad things.

Of course, some other things are added to Haftseen Table. They don’t start with the mentioned letter, like mirror, the Holy Quran, hyacinth, The Divan of Hafez, and money.

If you are interested in Persian poems, you will love Hafez’s poems known as Divan-e Hafez. There are various e-books related to Hafez on GetBookOnline Store. You will find the one that can exactly match your desire.

Hafez translation, phonetic transcription — Divan of Hafez

What Activities Iranians Do on Nowruz Days?

After cleaning the house thoroughly, the home is ready for guests in the New Year, Nowruz festival. Everywhere is clean and tidy. On the tables, there are chocolates, nuts, pastries and cookies, and blue, pink, or red hyacinths alongside Haft-sin. Everyone is in new clothes waiting for spring begin. The special activities are:

Preparing Nowruz Food

Iran, also called Persia and officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a country in western Asia. This country consists of 31 provinces then undeniably there are many different customs in terms of local food. The night before the new year, the primarily Iranian eat fresh herbs symbolize the rebirth of the year.

There is often a mixed herb frittata named Kuku Sabzi, accompanied mainly by fried fish. One of the other food, which is one of the most commonly cooked ones is called Reshtepolu, which is Served in Khurasan and some other provinces. Generally speaking, rice with fish, in Persian “Sabzi polo ba Mahi,” is commonly known as the meal for the night before Nowruz Day.

To learn how to cook healthy and delicious Iranian meals, such as “Kuku Sabzi, Sabzi Polo ba Mahi’ and a lot more, GetBookOnline.com Team highly recommends the cookbooks available in the store. If you are interested in Iranian cuisine, there are 4 Persian cookbooks on the GetBookOnline store. Here are the Persian cookbooks, both in Persian and English versions and offered for meat-eaters and vegetarians in separate e-books.

Nowruz Gits

During Nowruz festival, giving gifts to family and friends is a cherished tradition in Iran, symbolizing love, respect, and good wishes for the new year. Here are some thoughtful gift ideas rooted in Iran’s rich heritage of traditional crafts:

Handmade Persian Carpets;
Miniature Paintings;
Enamelware (Minakari);
Khatamkari Boxes;
Termeh Fabrics;
Hand-painted Pottery;
Saffron and Spices;
Handmade Jewelry;
Fresh Flowers;
Decorative Plates;
Money.

Happy Nowruz Festival- Nowruz Mubarak

Without a doubt, some longstanding traditions must be held on this occasion. That’s a duty for young people to come over and visit their senior relatives, especially their mothers and fathers, even grandparents.

On the whole, for the majority of people, that’s a breathtakingly beautiful tradition that they have been waiting for the whole year. And what makes it considerably pleasant is sharing or exchanging gifts and fondest memories.

The new year is a chance for families to get together. Obviously, it helps to preserve our customs. Unfortunately, mentioned customs are being somehow ignored and taken over in this technology-driven world, and it makes us concerned about the way of holding these cultural celebrations.

In this situation, in a not so far future, they may keep up visiting each other through digital devices like video calls. At this point, the main topic that this festival follows is to renew friendships and ease past hostility.

Without reservation, all human beings, by their nature and based on their inclination to love, and good relationships, accept this custom with open arms. Whereas unfortunately, some people insist on keeping vandalism.

Moreover, the very first 13 days of the new year, employees are off on behalf of the government. It’s better to say these days are taken into consideration as holidays. As I have said, that’s a kind of chance for people to take a trip and get rid of work pressure and hectic life by going on a trip and having a whole lot of fun.

FAQs

How long does Nowruz last?

Nowruz celebrations typically last for about two weeks, during which time families continue to visit each other, exchange visits, and enjoy festive meals.

Where is Nowruz celebrated?

Nowruz is celebrated in Iran, parts of Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East, the Balkans, and by Persian-speaking communities worldwide.

Why is Nowruz celebrated?

Nowruz is celebrated to mark the Persian New Year and the arrival of spring.

What does Nowruz symbolize?

Nowruz symbolizes renewal, rebirth, and the triumph of light over darkness.

Is Nowruz a religious holiday?

No, Nowruz is primarily a cultural and secular holiday, although it has roots in Zoroastrianism and includes some religious elements for various communities.

Source