International Day of Nowruz
Next: March 21, 2027
A new day for a new spring.
The story
Where it comes from
Nowruz means 'new day' in Persian. It is the spring new year, kept on the day of the March equinox, usually 20 or 21 March, and its roots go back more than 3,000 years to ancient Persia and the Zoroastrian calendar. Over the centuries it became a festival shared by many peoples and faiths across Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Caucasus and beyond. UNESCO inscribed Nowruz as intangible cultural heritage in 2009, and in 2010 the UN General Assembly proclaimed 21 March the International Day of Nowruz.
How it's celebrated
Families clean their homes from top to bottom, 'shaking the dust' of the old year, and buy new clothes. In Iran they set a Haft Sin table with seven things whose names begin with the letter S, among them sprouted grains for rebirth and apples for health. Families gather for a special meal, gifts are given, especially to children, and towns hold music, dance and street festivals.
Did you know
- The festival goes by many spellings: Nowruz, Novruz, Navruz, Nooruz, Nevruz and Nauryz.
- In Central Asia families cook sumalak, a sweet wheat pudding stirred for many hours, as a sign of spring's slow but sure arrival.
- In Iran people jump over bonfires during Chaharshanbe Suri, just before the new year, to cast away the last of winter.
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