Iranian New Year!

NOROUZ (IRANIAN NEW YEAR):

Nourouz means a new day, and in Iran that is the beginning of New Year in spring. It is a holiday for the people of Iran. The holidays last 13 days and start on March 21 (1 Farvardin is the first day of the sun year). To prepare for the festivities everyone cleans their houses and buys lots of new things. The people also celebrate the last Wednesday before March 21 called Chaharshanbeh Souri (Wednesday Ceremony). It's tradition to jump over little campfires and sing songs and have a lot of fun. The fire is a combination of red and yellow colours. The people jump over the campfire and they say; " I give you my yellow and I want your red'. That means I give you (the fire) my sickness and I want your healt. Because the red colour of fire means health and the yellow colour means sickness. And also fireworks are set off. This is almost the end of the year.

On New Year's day, 21 March, the whole family sits around a special cloth in their new clothes. The special cloth includes Haft sin (seven S). Haft sin is seven things that starts with the letter S. For example; Sonbol (hyacinth), Sib (apple), Sabzeh (plant), Serkeh (vinegar), Senjed (oleaster), Sekkeh (loose change), Sir (garlic), Samanoo (pudding), Sabzi (vegetables), Somag (herb). There is also a mirror, an aquarium, coloured eggs and a Quran present on the cloth. All of these things are the symbols of nature, life and brightness.

The first days of the New Year people visit each other, the young people visit the old people and they give each other gifts (new year gifts), wish each other happiness and good health and make it up if they were havin a fight in the past year. The last day of the holiday, the thirteenth day, everyone goes to the woods or to the mountains, because they say that the thirtheenth day is a unlucky day. So they must go out and throw the unhappiness away. On this day the young girls tie a knot in grasses and they do a wish. They wish to get married. At the end of the day they throw away a special plant that was especially grown for this occasion. With this deed they end the holiday.

The Iranian New Year Celebration in the next 10 years will be (Holland time):

Year	Date	Day	Time!
1997 (3735)	20-03-1997	Thursday	13:57:42
1998 (3736)	20-03-1998	Friday	19:56:00
1999 (3737)	21-03-1999	Sunday	02:45:26
2000 (3738)	20-03-2000	Monday	08:33:11
2001 (3739)	20-03-2001	Tuesday	14:29:23
2002 (3740)	20-03-2002	Wednesday	20:16:20
2003 (3741)	21-03-2003	Friday	01:59:45
2004 (3742)	20-03-2004	Saturday	07:48:37
2005 (3743)	20-03-2005	Sunday	13:33:00
2006 (3744)	20-03-2006	Monday	18:25:10