NOWRUZ 2026: PERSIAN NEW YEAR DATES AND MEANINGS EXPLAINED
Newsweek Exclusive Feature
From fire festivals to park picnics, here is everything to know about Nowruz.: from when it is happening to how to celebrate.
More than 300 million people are marking the start of a new year—not on January 1, but on March 20.
This new year arrives at the precise moment of the spring, or vernal, equinox and is called Nowruz. It is an ancient festival from modern-day Iran rooted in renewal, rebirth and the enduring rhythms of nature. Despite its Persian roots, Nowruz is observed from the Balkans to Central Asia.
In Iran, Nowruz is an enduring symbol of national identity. It has been inscribed by UNESCO and has outlasted erasure attempts by the Islamic Republic. The United Nations also holds an "International Nowruz Day."
This is how Nowruz is celebrated and when it falls this year.
The Story of Nowruz
Nowruz, a Persian word, translates to "new day." It has been celebrated for more than 3,000 years, with some saying the festival may be up to 4,500 years old. For Iranians, Nowruz is a celebration of life, rebirth and the triumph of light over darkness as winter gives way to spring.
In the Shahnameh, Ferdowsi's epic poem from 977 CE, Nowruz is credited to the mythical King Jamshid, who saves humanity from a vicious winter destined to kill every living creature. In the tale, Jamshid triumphs and declares that day Nowruz—the first day of Farvardin, the first month of the Iranian calendar.
But those mythic origins sit alongside older currents.
Now a secular holiday, Nowruz is partly rooted in Iranian religions such as Mithraism and Zoroastrianism.
In Mithraism, festivals are closely linked to the sun’s light. Fire, too, runs through Nowruz's symbolism, which aligns with the Zoroastrian reverence of fire.
Though not recorded in Achaemenid inscriptions, Xenophon of Athens gave an ancient account of Nowruz celebrations taking place in modern-day Iran. Nowruz is thought to have been an important day during the Achaemenid Empire and was known to Alexander the Great.
Chaharshanbe Suri
Before Nowruz, Chaharshanbe Suri is observed on the last Tuesday of the year.
It is a night defined by bonfires and fire-jumping, where families leap over small fires in a symbolic jump from old to new, representing the discarding of negative energy from the past year.
Poems are chanted while jumping over the fire to narrate the releasing of bad fortune.
Ahead of the day of Nowruz, people turn to spring cleaning, buying new clothes, getting haircuts and even painting hard-boiled eggs in bright colors to mark the transition into a new year.
A spoon‑banging custom, similar to Halloween trick-or-treating, sees some communities knock on the doors of neighbors with spoons to gather candy.
Similarly to how Santa Claus begins appearing everywhere ahead of Christmas, Haji Firooz, a folkloric figure dressed in red, traditionally parades through streets and in public gatherings, singing and playing the tambourine for children.
Folk tales, like the story of Amu Nowruz (Uncle Nowruz) and Nane Sarma (Grandma Frost), are often revisited and read aloud.
The Haft-Sin
Families lay a spread called a "Haft-Sin" on a central table of their homes just before the day of Nowruz.
The spread is a curated still life of symbols, traditionally built around seven items—seven being a sacred number in Zoroastrianism.
The Haft-Sin is created the night before Nowruz, though many families prepare it in advance to extend celebrations.
The core seven "S" items include sabzeh (sprouted grains) for rebirth and renewal, samanu (sweet pudding) for affluence and fertility, senjed (dried fruit) for love, seer (garlic) for medicine, health and to protect against evil, seeb (apple) for beauty and good health, somaq (sumac) symbolizing the triumph of good over evil, and serkeh (vinegar) to represent age and wisdom.
The Haft-Sin often features hyacinth flowers, mirrors, poetry books, candles, and brightly painted eggs—one to represent each member of the household, symbolizing renewal and spring overall.
Clocks, a Persian flatbread and coins are often present on Haft-Sins too, as each item begins with an "S" in Persian, and represents a specific positive attribute.
Also symbolizing new life, the reemergence of animals and the renewal of nature, a goldfish in a small fishbowl is often added to Haft-Sin tables.
Day of Nowruz
Nowruz is timed not to a fixed date, but to an astronomical event.
The time of the new year in Nowruz tradition is equal to one complete rotation around the sun, aligning with the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator and night and day equalize.
At the exact moment the new year begins, families open poetry books—Hafiz being a preferred poet—and sing a poem out loud, treating the verse as a fortune for the coming year, and eat sweets as the equinox arrives to begin the year with sweetness.
In the afternoon, families tuck into a meal of fish with dill-flavored rice (sabzi-polo-ba-mahi), the fish symbolizing spring.
Gift-giving also occurs, though children are traditionally gifted money and are not expected to offer gifts to older relatives.
Sizdah Be-Dar
Nowruz follows a 13-day arc that culminates in Sizdah Be-dar, a second holiday observed 13 days after the equinox.
Families go to parks and indulge in picnics, taking the celebration outdoors to complete the holiday’s central promise of returning to nature and the pleasantries of spring.
The sprouted grains (sabzeh) that have been growing are released on this excursion. People typically knot the green, make a wish and throw it into a lake.
Nowruz Under the Islamic Regime
Though linked to Zoroastrian tradition, Nowruz is a secular holiday, independent of any religion and an emblem of Persian identity. That secularism enraged founders of the Islamic Republic, who pushed back against public celebrations.
Despite state efforts, Nowruz could not be erased and, until tensions arose in 2026, Islamic Regime officials somewhat relaxed their stance against Nowruz. In Iran, schools and workplaces observed a 10-day closure to mark the festivities.
Outside of Iran, diaspora communities engage in public celebrations.
Though rooted in Iranian tradition, Nowruz has been welcomed in several other regions and is an official holiday from Azerbaijan to Tajikistan.
When Is Nowruz This Year?
This year, Nowruz takes place on Friday, March 20, 2026, at 10.46 a.m. ET.
It coincides with a date between March 19 and March 22 on the Gregorian calendar.
For many Iranian families celebrating, the timing this year is bittersweet due to a period of state violence that was followed by war. Many
hope that this year, the "new day," might mean not only a new season, but also a better future.
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COVER IMAGE CREDIT: PINTEREST
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