More than 300 million people will celebrate Nowruz (and you should, too)👌

For millions of people around the world, Nowruz is no small celebration. Think of Christmas, New Years', and July 4th combined, and add fiery festivities, delicious meats, rice, and spices, family gatherings, street dances, and heavy pounding on the pots.

But it is also much more than that. Nowruz "promotes values ​​of peace and solidarity between generations and within families," says the United Nations. It is a moment of reconciliation and neighborhood, "contributing to cultural diversity and friendship between peoples and different communities."

And we could all wear some of that, no matter what it's called.

What is it?

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 arrive on Saturday, March 20.

It is no coincidence that it is the first day of spring. The Iranian calendar is a solar calendar, which means that time is determined, through astronomical observations, by the movement of the Earth around the sun. So, the first day of the year always begins with the natural phenomenon of the spring equinox.

It is not a religious holiday, but a universal celebration of new beginnings - wishing prosperity and welcoming the future while shedding the past. That is why families use this time to deep clean their houses and closets and buy fresh clothes.

It's a month-long celebration, filled with parties, crafts, street performances, and public rituals.

And yes, lots of food.

Who celebrates it?

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

But its scope is even broader. 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 elsewhere.

Hundreds of American communities also celebrate Nowruz.

Los Angeles, home to one of the largest Persian populations outside of Iran, is proud to host the largest Nowruz festival in the country, with one-day festivities for visitors of any age. You can also find a Nowruz celebration in almost every state in the nation. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the festivities will understandably be muted this year.

How do you celebrate Nowruz?

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

They include the "Haft Sin" table, which includes seven symbolic elements beginning with the letter "S" in Farsi. They include wheatgrass, herbs, dried foods, and vinegar, all representing various hopes for the new year, including health, wealth, and prosperity. For example, "Lord", the word for garlic, represents protection against disease and evil, white vinegar or "Search" represents longevity and patience. The tables also include mirrors, candles, decorated eggs, water, and various fruits.

Persian New Years #Nowruz @FreerSackler @Smithsonian pic.twitter.com/IxU4Lw9HVx

- Negar Mortazavi (@NegarMortazavi) March 18, 2019

Many families also place a goldfish on the table for good luck and books of poetry or the Quran to symbolize education and enlightenment.

Iranian families also welcome the new year with sparkling houses and new clothes. They visit friends and neighbors and share meals and have parties. Communities come together to celebrate the beginning of spring and they do so in the hope of always being surrounded by a clean and healthy environment, like home.

And the celebrations don't end when people ring in the new year. Thirteen days after Nowruz, families go out into the open and dump the wheatgrass they have been growing (and using to decorate Haft Sin tables) into streams.

The tradition continues on the 13th day after the new year, a number that is generally considered unlucky. To ensure good luck for the year, communities discard wheatgrass, which is said to absorb all negative energy from each household.

Do they really jump on fires?

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

Before spring arrives, children run through the streets slamming pots and knocking on doors, asking for candy or money. It's like Halloween.

On the last Wednesday of the year, Chaharshanbe Soori (or "Red Wednesday"), crowds gather in public places and jump over bonfires, sing traditional songs and repeat the phrase: "Give me your beautiful red color and recover my sickly paleness." ! "

Iranian families light a fire in front of their homes in Tehran on March 13, 2018, during Chaharshanbe Soori.

Fire serves as a symbol of light and good, while families wish for enlightenment and happiness for the new year, says the Iranian Chamber Society.

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

Understood: Tables, fires, parties. Anything else?

Iranians also have their version of Santa Claus, Amoo Nowruz or Uncle Nowruz, and a jolly little buffoon 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 serving an Iranian master, a reference to Iran's long history of slavery, writes Beeta Baghoolizadeh, with the Ajam Media Collective.

"The nonsensical rhyme and direct reference to his slave status reaffirm his role as a minstrel in Iranian society, a role that, despite the end of slavery in Iran, still persists in Norooz celebrations today," says Baghoolizadeh. . "Haji Firuz, in fact, comes from the Afro-Iranian community in southern Iran."

And the food?

While jumping fires and hitting the pot sounds tempting, nothing compares to the dishes held during the Iranian New Year. Already famous for its variety of grilled meats and fluffy rice, Persian cuisine leaves the old year behind with feasts of stews, spicy foods, and colorful cookies and cakes.

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

Nowruz's main dish is Sabzi Polo Mahi: fried fish along with 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 a pomegranate and walnut sauce.

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, hit play on this song, which traditionally plays as communities announce the new year.

How About YOU?