Nowruz (Persian: نوروز, "new day") is the Persian and Central Asian New Year, observed at the spring equinox on March 20 or 21. It marks the start of the year on the Solar Hijri calendar and is celebrated by over 300 million people across the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Balkans.
Nowruz dates back at least 3,000 years to the Achaemenid Empire. It is rooted in Zoroastrianism and predates Islam by over a millennium. Nowruz survived the Islamic conquest of Persia and remains a cultural rather than religious festival. UNESCO inscribed it on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009.
Haft-sin: a table set with seven symbolic items beginning with the Persian letter "sin" (seeb=apple for beauty, sabzeh=sprouts for rebirth, samanu=sweet pudding, senjed=oleaster for love, sir=garlic for medicine, somaq=sumac for sunrise, serkeh=vinegar for patience). Spring cleaning ("khaneh-tekani") before the new year. Visiting elders. Chaharshanbe Suri — jumping over bonfires on the last Wednesday of the old year. Sizdah Bedar — picnicking outdoors on the 13th day.
Sabzi polo ba mahi (herb rice with fish), kuku sabzi (herb frittata), reshteh polo (noodle rice). Sweets: nan-e nokhodchi, baklava.
"Nowruz Mubarak" · "Eid-eh shoma mobarak" · "Nawrūz pīrūz" (May your Nowruz be victorious)
Public holiday in Iran (4 days), Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Albania, and recognized in many other countries. Iran observes the world's longest Nowruz break — up to 13 days.
This holiday is also publicly observed in: