Nowruz
The Persian New Year — three thousand years old, celebrated by 300 million people from Tehran to Tajikistan, and the only Iranian festival inscribed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
A 3,000-year-old new year
Nowruz (نوروز, "new day") marks the first day of the Iranian solar calendar and is observed at the exact astronomical moment of the vernal equinox. Its roots reach into Zoroastrian cosmology of the late second millennium BCE, where the spring equinox signalled the triumph of light over the long winter darkness.
The Achaemenid kings received tribute from all 23 satrapies at Persepolis at Nowruz — the procession is carved in stone on the Apadana staircase. After the Arab conquest, Nowruz was preserved as a civil festival; the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad continued to celebrate it, and the modern Iranian solar calendar (the most accurate solar calendar in use) was reformed by Omar Khayyam under the Seljuk Sultan Malik Shah in 1079 CE.
"Nowruz promotes values of peace and solidarity between generations and within families, as well as reconciliation and neighbourliness."
A choreography of light, fire and water
Iranians do not celebrate one day; they observe a thirteen-day arc that begins on the last Tuesday night before the new year and ends with a mandatory picnic outdoors on the thirteenth day of spring.
| Day | Name | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Last Tue. eve | Chaharshanbe Suri | Bonfires in the streets; jump over flames chanting 'sorkhi-ye to az man, zardi-ye man az to' |
| Day 0 | Tahvil-e Sal | The exact moment of equinox — families gather at the Haft-Sin table |
| Days 1–12 | Did-o-Bazdid | Visits to elders first, then siblings, friends and neighbours; eidi gifts for children |
| Day 13 | Sizdah Bedar | Nature day — every household picnics outdoors; the sabzeh is thrown into running water |
The table of seven 'S's
At the heart of the home stands the Haft-Sin — a ceremonial table laid with seven symbolic items whose Persian names begin with the letter س (sin). Each item stands for a virtue invoked for the coming year.
Sabzeh
Sprouted wheat — rebirth
Samanu
Wheat-germ pudding — affluence
Senjed
Oleaster fruit — love
Seer
Garlic — health and medicine
Seeb
Apple — beauty
Somaq
Sumac berries — sunrise
Serkeh
Vinegar — patience and age
Plus
A mirror, painted eggs, goldfish, Hafez or Quran, and a lit candle
Nowruz beyond Iran
UNESCO inscribed Nowruz in 2009 on the joint nomination of Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan; Iraq and Kazakhstan joined the dossier in 2016. The United Nations declared 21 March the International Day of Nowruz in 2010.
When is Nowruz? Dates 2026–2031
Nowruz begins at the exact instant of the March equinox, so the moment — not just the day — shifts each year. Iran's official calendar fixes the year change to the equinox as observed on the meridian of Tehran (UTC+3:30), which is why families abroad often celebrate at an hour that looks unusual locally.
| Persian year | Gregorian date | Tehran time |
|---|---|---|
| 1405 | 20 March 2026 | 21:16 |
| 1406 | 21 March 2027 | 03:05 |
| 1407 | 20 March 2028 | 08:50 |
| 1408 | 20 March 2029 | 14:32 |
| 1409 | 20 March 2030 | 20:22 |
| 1410 | 21 March 2031 | 02:11 |
The Nowruz fortnight, day by day
Nowruz is not a single day but a season that opens with fire and closes in a meadow. The sequence below is the shape the holiday takes across Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and the Kurdish regions, with local variation in the details.
| Stage | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Khaneh-tekani | Weeks before | Deep spring cleaning of the whole house |
| Sabzeh sprouting | 10–14 days before | Wheat, lentils or mung beans set to germinate |
| Chaharshanbe Suri | Last Tuesday night | Bonfires leapt over with the chant zardi-ye man az to |
| Sal Tahvil | Equinox instant | Family gathers at the Haft-Sin; prayers and gifts |
| Eid didani | Days 1–12 | Reciprocal visits, elders first; eidi given to children |
| Sizdah Bedar | Day 13 | Picnic outdoors; sabzeh released into running water |
Where Nowruz is a public holiday
| Country / community | Local name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Iran | Nowruz | Roughly two weeks of national holiday |
| Afghanistan | Nawroz | Traditionally marked with samanak and Guli Surkh in Mazar-i-Sharif |
| Tajikistan | Navruz | Largest state festival of the year |
| Azerbaijan | Novruz | Four preceding Tuesdays dedicated to water, fire, earth and wind |
| Kurdish regions | Newroz | Bonfires with an added national-revival meaning |
| Uzbekistan & Central Asia | Navro'z | Sumalak cooked communally overnight |
| Zoroastrian & Parsi communities | Jamshedi Navroz | Observed at the equinox alongside the Shahenshahi calendar |
| Diaspora | Persian New Year | Public Haft-Sin displays from Los Angeles to Toronto |
Nowruz around the world
From the Haft-Sin spread on the spring equinox to the bonfires of Chaharshanbe Suri and the picnic of Sizdah Bedar, the 13-day festival in pictures.
Photographs and museum plates reproduced from Wikimedia Commons and public-domain collections.
Frequently asked questions
Related reading
Nowruz, Yalda, Mehregan, Sadeh, Tirgan — the ceremonial year.
Iran's winter-solstice festival — pomegranate, watermelon and Hafez on the longest night of the year. UNESCO 2022.
Zarathustra, Ahura Mazda and the fire — the ancient Iranian faith that shaped Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Taarof, hospitality, festivals, music, and everyday life.
Saffron, rice, kebab, stews, tea and sofreh — the Persian table.
Mathematician, astronomer and poet of Nishapur — the Jalali calendar, the cubic equation, the Rubaiyat.
References
- ↗ UNESCO — Nowruz (Intangible Cultural Heritage)
- ↗ Encyclopædia Iranica — Nowruz
- ↗ UN General Assembly Resolution 64/253 (2010)
All imagery is sourced from Wikimedia Commons, public-domain museum collections (British Museum, Louvre, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Museum of Iran), or UNESCO World Heritage records. No AI-generated images are used. Scholarly text is synthesized from Encyclopædia Iranica, the Cambridge History of Iran, and peer-reviewed publications.