Iranian Festivals & the Calendar
The Iranian festival year is solar and astronomical: it turns on the equinoxes and solstices rather than on a lunar count, which is why Nowruz always falls at the exact moment of the March equinox.
Read this hub in PersianMost surviving Iranian festivals predate Islam and derive from the Zoroastrian calendar, in which each of the thirty days of a month carries a name shared with one of the yazatas; when the day-name and month-name coincide, that day is a feast. Mehregan (day Mehr of month Mehr) and Tirgan (day Tir of month Tir) both work this way.
Nowruz and Yalda are inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, in 2009/2016 and 2022 respectively.
Quick answers
- When is Nowruz?
- At the precise moment of the northward (March) equinox, usually 20 or 21 March, celebrated across some twelve countries by about 300 million people.
- What is on the Haft-Sin table?
- Seven items beginning with the Persian letter 'sin': sabzeh, samanu, senjed, seer, seeb, somāq and serkeh, usually joined by a mirror, goldfish, painted eggs and a book of poetry.
- What is Yalda?
- The winter-solstice night — the longest of the year — spent awake with family over pomegranate, watermelon, nuts and readings from Hafez.
- What is Chaharshanbe Suri?
- The fire festival on the eve of the last Wednesday of the year, when people leap over bonfires reciting 'my yellow is yours, your red is mine'.
Explore the hub
The festival year
Solstice, equinox and fire.
Roots and table
Where the festivals come from and what is eaten at them.
Frequently asked questions
Is Nowruz religious?
It is pre-Islamic and Zoroastrian in origin but is now a national and cultural festival observed by Iranians of all faiths and by non-Iranian communities from Kurdistan to Central Asia and the Balkans.
What calendar does Iran use?
The Solar Hijri calendar, whose year begins at the March equinox — the most astronomically accurate calendar in continuous civil use, descending from Khayyam's Jalali reform.
What is Sizdah Bedar?
The thirteenth day of Nowruz, spent outdoors; the sabzeh grown for Haft-Sin is thrown into running water to carry away the year's misfortune.
Why pomegranate and watermelon at Yalda?
Their red flesh stands for the returning sun and the dawn; the fruits also keep well from the harvest into midwinter.