Nowruz (Persian New Year) 2027 Countdown

Nowruz, meaning 'new day', is the traditional new year of the spring equinox, celebrated around March 20–21. Known in English as the Persian New Year, it is equally cherished by Kurdish, Afghan, Azerbaijani, Central Asian, Caucasian and Baháʼí communities across a vast region and worldwide.

History

Nowruz is one of the world's oldest continuously celebrated festivals, with roots reaching back more than three thousand years to ancient Persia and the Zoroastrian tradition. Timed to the exact moment of the spring equinox, when day and night stand equal and the new astronomical year begins, it marks the rebirth of nature after winter. Over the centuries it spread far beyond its origins, carried along the Silk Road and adopted by many peoples, each weaving the festival into their own language and customs. Today Nowruz is observed across a vast region — Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Caucasus, parts of the Middle East, South Asia and beyond. It is the new year for Iranians and Afghans, is celebrated as Newroz by Kurdish communities, as Novruz in Azerbaijan and as Nauryz in Kazakhstan, and opens the year in the Baháʼí calendar as Naw-Rúz. UNESCO inscribed Nowruz on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009, an inscription later extended to twelve countries, and in 2010 the United Nations recognised 21 March as the International Day of Nowruz, acknowledging its role as a shared celebration of spring and renewal. Preparations begin weeks ahead with spring cleaning (khaneh-tekani) and the setting of the symbolic haft-sin table. The moment of the new year, the saal tahvil, is the instant of the equinox itself; in Iran's official Solar Hijri calendar the year begins on the day of the equinox if it falls before noon Tehran time, and on the following day if not. The festive season runs for about three weeks. On the eve of the last Wednesday before Nowruz, Chaharshanbe Suri, people jump over small bonfires, asking the fire to take their pallor and give them its warmth; at the equinox families gather around the haft-sin table, whose seven items beginning with the Persian letter 'sin' — typically sabzeh (sprouted wheat or lentils), samanu (wheat pudding), senjed (dried oleaster fruit), sir (garlic), sib (apple), somaq (sumac) and serkeh (vinegar) — each carry a wish for the year, from rebirth to health and patience; and on Sizdah Bedar, the thirteenth day, everyone heads outdoors to picnic and the sprouted sabzeh is cast into running water. In Azerbaijan the four Tuesdays before Novruz are each dedicated to an element — water, fire, earth and wind; Kurdish Newroz is marked by torchlit processions and bonfires on hillsides, famously at Akre in Iraqi Kurdistan; in Kazakhstan Nauryz kozhe, a soup of seven ingredients, is shared over several days of festivities; and for Baháʼís Naw-Rúz ends their nineteen-day fast.

Meaning

Nowruz celebrates renewal in the fullest sense — the turning of the season, the fresh start of a new year, and the mending of relationships. Families clean their homes, wear new clothes, visit elders and forgive old grievances, entering the year with a clean slate and open heart. At its centre is a love of nature and life. The haft-sin table, laid with seven symbolic items, and the greenery of sprouted seeds (sabzeh) express hopes for health, prosperity and growth in the year to come.