referred to as the "Persian New Year,” marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the year on the Iranian calendar.  The celebration is typically observed on March 21, or the day before/after, during the astronomical Northward equinox, when the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day.

13 Day Celebration

Nowruz is important holiday around the world. Preparations for Nowruz begin in the last month of winter according to the Persian solar calendar.

I.          Spring cleaning

Spring cleaning is commonly performed before Nowruz (referred to as Khouneh Tekouni, which means 'shaking the house' or 'complete cleaning of the house') in preparation for the "rebirth of nature" represented by the holiday.  Additionally, Persians customarily purchase new clothes to wear for the New Year along with flowers, such as the hyacinth and the tulip.

II.         Chahārshanbe Suri

The night befo

re the last Wednesday of the year the Iranian festival of fire Chahārshanbe Suri (meaning “feast, party or festival”) takes place in celebration of the triumph of light (the good) over the darkness (the bad).  The symbolism behind the festival roots back to Zoroastrianism.

As part of the tradition, celebrants jump over small bonfires made in the streets and alleys while singing the traditional song Zardi-ye man az to, sorkhi-ye to az man, which translates to "My

yellowness is yours, your redness is mine," or "My paleness (pain, sickness) for you (the fire), your strength (health) for me."  The fire is believed to burn fear (yellowness) from the subconscious or spirit in preparation for the New Year.

According to tradition, ancestral spirits visit the living on the last days of the year.  Thus, many children wrap themselves in shrouds, symbolically re-enacting the visits.  In addition, children run through the streets banging on pots and pans with spoons and knocking on doors to ask for treats as part of the qashogh-zany or “spoon beating” ritual symbolizing the beating out of the last unlucky Wednesday of the year (similar to “Trick-or-treating” in the United States).

Serving different kinds of pastri

es and nuts known as Ajil-e Moshkel-Goshā (meaning “problem-solving nuts”) is the Chahārshanbe Suri way of giving thanks for the previous year's health and happiness, while exchanging any remaining paleness and evil for the warmth and vibrancy of the fire.

IV.        Social Visits

On the day of New Year's, families dress in their new clothes and begin the twelve-day celebrations by visiting the elders of their family, then the rest of their family and finally their friends.

Typically, on the first day of Nowr

uz, family members gather around the Haft Seen, to usher in the exact moment of the arrival of spring, when gifts are exchanged.  Later in the day, the first house visits are paid to the most senior family members.

Some celebrants believe that a person’s actions on Nowruz affect the entire rest of the year.  Thus, if a person is warm and kind to their relatives, friends and neighbors on Nowruz, the New Year will be a good one; but if there are fights and disagreements, the New Year will be a bad one.

The Haft Sīn

Haft Sîn (or the 7 'S'

s) refers to the traditional table setting of Nowruz.  The haft sin table includes seven items starting with the letter 'S' or Sīn in the Persian alphabet.  Originally the setting was referred to as Haft Chin, which is derived from the words “Chin” (meaning "to place") and “Haft” (the number 7).  The items originally represented seven of the Zoroastrian divinities.

The customary practice of Haft Chin has, however, changed over the past millennium.  Marked by acculturation and transformation, Persians adapted and replaced many Zoroastrian customs and words with foreign concepts and religious language.  Indeed, the term Haft Chin itself, into Haft Sin.

Traditional "Haft Chin" items:

(1) Mirror – symbolizing S

ky (later… symbolizing cleanness and honesty)

(2) Apple – symbolizing Earth (later… symbolizing beauty and health)

(3) Candles – symbolizing Fire (later… symbolizing enlightenment and happiness)

(4) Golab – rose water - symbolizing Water (believed to have magical cleansing powers)

(5) Sabzeh – wheat, or

barley sprouts - symbolizing Earth (later… symbolizing rebirth)

   (6) Goldfish – symbolizing Animals - life within life; "very ancient and meaningful"; and an  essential object of the Nowruz table.

   (7) Painted Eggs – symbolizing Humans and Fertility (sometimes one for each member of the family)

Modernly Haft Sīn items are:

• samanu (a sweet pudding)
• – symbolizing affluence
• senjed (the dried fruit of the oleaster tree) – symbolizing love
• sīr (garlic) – symbolizing medicine
• somaq (sumac berries) – symbolizing [the color of] sunrise
• serkeh (vinegar) – symbolizing age and patience
• Sonbol  (Hyacinth)
• Sekkeh (Coins) – representative of wealth
• National Colors - for a patriotic touch
  • Holy book (e.g., the Avesta, Qur'an,or Kitáb-i-Aqdas) and/or a poetry   book (almost always either the Shahnameh or the Divan of Hafiz)

Hājji Firuz - is the traditional herald of Nowruz,

the Persian New Year. He oversees celebrations for the New Year perhaps as a remnant of the ancient Zoroastrian fire-keeper.  His face is covered in soot and he is clad in bright red clothes and a felt hat.  While ushering in Nowruz, Hajji Firuz plays a tambourine and sings "Hāji Firuz-e, sal-i-ye ruz-e" (It is Hāji Firuz time, It happens one day in a year). People of all ages gather around him and his troupe of musicians and listen to them play the drum, saz or kamancheh, and dance through the streets with tambourines and trumpets spreading good cheer and the news of the coming New Year.

V.         Sizdah Bedar

On the thirteenth day, families leave their homes and picnic outdoors.  The thirteenth day of the New Year festival is Sizdah Bedar (meaning "passing the thirteenth day", or "Passing the bad luck of the thirteenth day").  This is a day of festivity in the open, often accompanied by music and dancing at family picnics.

Sizdah bedar celebrations stem from the ancient Persian belief that the twelve constellations of the Zodiac controlled the months of the year, with each Zodiac ruling the earth for a thousand years, and after which the sky and earth collapsed in chaos. Hence Nowruz lasts twelve days and the thirteenth day represents the time of chaos when families put order aside and avoid the bad luck associated with the number thirteen by going outdoors and having picnics and parties.

At the end of the celebrations on this day, the sabzeh grown for the Haft Seen (which has symbolically collected all sickness and bad luck) is thrown into running water to exorcise divs, or “demons,” from the household. It is also customary for young single women to tie the leaves of the sabzeh before discarding it, as an expression of the wish to be married before the next year's Sizdah Bedar.