Nowruz 2021: What it is and how it can be celebrated

(CNN) – For millions of people around the world, Nowruz is no small celebration. Think of Christmas, New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July together and add fire parties, delicious meats, rice and spices, family reunions, street dancing and loud banging in pots.

But it’s also so much more than that. Nowruz “promotes the values of peace and solidarity between generations and within families,” the United Nations says. It is a time of reconciliation and neighborhood, which “contributes to cultural diversity and friendship between peoples and different communities.”

And we could all use it, no matter what is said.

What is?

Nowruz is the Persian New Year. But you don’t have to be Persian to celebrate. Also known as Nauryz, Navruz or Nowrouz, it means “new day”. The new year will sound on Saturday, March 20th.

It is no coincidence that it falls on the first day of spring. The Iranian calendar is a solar calendar, that is, time is determined, by astronomical observations, by the movement of the Earth around the sun. Therefore, the first day of the year always starts with the natural phenomenon of the spring equinox.

It is not a religious holiday, but rather a universal celebration of new beginnings: wishing prosperity and welcoming the future while erasing the past. That’s why families take advantage of this time to thoroughly clean their homes and closets and buy fresh clothes.

It is a month-long celebration, full of festivities, crafts, street performances and public rituals.

And yes, a lot of cooking.

Who celebrates it?

March 21 was officially recognized in 2010 as Nowruz International Day by the United Nations at the request of countries such as Afghanistan, Albania, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Turkmenistan.

Young Kyrgyz participate in the traditional game “Kyz Kumay” (“Kiss a Girl”) during the Nowruz celebrations in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on March 21, 2013.

VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO / AFP / Getty Images

But its scope is even wider. More than 300 million people around the world celebrate Nowruz – and have celebrated it for more than 3,000 years – from the Balkans to the Black Sea basin, Central Asia, the Middle East and others. places.

Hundreds of American communities also celebrate Nowruz.

Los Angeles, home to one of the largest Persian towns outside of Iran, is proud to host the country’s largest Nowruz festival, with all-day festivities for visitors of all ages. You can also find a celebration of Nowruz in almost every state in the nation. Although, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the festivities will remain quietly understandable this year.

How do you celebrate Nowruz?

As with most festivals, Nowruz comes with its own set of traditions.

They include the “Haft Sin” table, which includes seven symbolic elements beginning with the Farsi letter “S.” They include wheatgrass, herbs, dry foods and vinegar, which represent various hopes for the new year, including health, wealth and prosperity. For example, “lord,” the word garlic, represents protection against disease and evil, while vinegar or “Serkeh” represents longevity and patience. Tables also include mirrors, candles, decorated eggs, water and various fruits.

Many families also place a goldfish on the table for good luck and poetry books or the Qur’an to symbolize education and illustration.

Iranian families also welcome the new year with bright houses and new clothes. They visit friends and neighbors and share meals and organize parties. Communities come together to celebrate the beginning of spring and do so in the hope that they will always be surrounded by a healthy, clean environment, such as their home.

And the celebrations don’t end when people ring the new year. Thirteen days after Nowruz, families head out into the open and throw away the wheat grass they have been growing (and use to decorate the Haft Sin tables) in the flowing waters.

The tradition is maintained on the 13th after the new year, a number that is usually considered unfortunate. To ensure the good luck of the year, communities throw away wheat grass, which is said to absorb all the negative energy from every home.

Do they really jump over fires?

Yes! The activity is one of the two main traditions that mark the last days of the old year.

Before spring comes, children run through the streets banging hard on pots and knocking on doors, asking for sweets or money. It’s like Halloween.

On the last Wednesday of the year, Chaharshanbe Soori (or “red Wednesdays”), crowds gather in public places and jump over bonfires, sing traditional songs and repeat the phrase, “Give me your beautiful color.” red and regains my pale illness ”

Iranian families light fires outside their homes in Tehran on March 13, 2018 during Chaharshanbe Soori.

ATTA KENARE / AFP / Getty Images

The fire serves as a symbol of light and good, while families wish for enlightenment and happiness for the new year, says the House Chamber of Iran.

Nowruz also dates its origins to the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism, in which fire was a central focus. Light and fire in religion were “essential elements in sustaining life,” according to the Heritage Institute.

Understood: tables, fires, parties. Something else?

The Iranians also have their version of Santa Claus – Amoo Nowruz or Uncle Nowruz – and a cute little cheerful who works for him.

Haji Firooz, the second figure, appears during the Persian New Year to bring good wishes. He is depicted with a black face.

Also known as Haji Firuz, the character is an African slave who serves an Iranian master, a reference to Iran’s long history of slavery, writes Beeta Baghoolizadeh, with the Ajam Media Collective.

“Absurd rhyme and direct reference to his status as a slave reaffirm his role as minstrels in Iranian society, a role that, despite the end of slavery in Iran, still persists in Norooz’s celebrations today. in a day, ”says Baghoolizadeh. “In fact, Haji Firuz comes from the Afro-Iranian community in southern Iran.”

And the food?

Despite jumping on fire and sounding tempting, nothing compares to the dishes that were taken out during the Iranian New Year. Persian cuisine, famous for its variety of grilled meats and fluffy rice, leaves the old year behind with stew parties, spicy meals and colorful cookies and cakes.

Herbs are key. Fish, meat, rice, noodles and beans from various dishes are seasoned with fresh mint, tarragon, basil and other green herbs.

Nowruz’s main course is Sabzi Polo Mahi – fried fish alongside rice stuffed with green herbs. Another, Dolmeh Barg, includes cooked meat and rice stuffed inside grape leaves. And Fesenjan, one of Iran’s most famous stews, offers meat, usually chicken and sometimes duck, in pomegranate sauce and walnuts.

The list goes on and on. The most important thing about Nowruz food is that it is shared by family, friends and neighbors.

So, am I ready?

Yes! And when the final countdown begins, play this song, which traditionally plays as communities sound like the new year.

Eide shoma mobarak!

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