Chaharshanbe Suri
Celebrated on the last Tuesday of March
A Persian Festival of fire, Chaharshanbe Suri takes place on the last Tuesday of March, and sees bonfires sprouting up in various public areas, in alleys, in front of homes and sometimes parks. It is celebrated on the eve of the last Wednesday before Nowruz (the Iranian New Year). Chaharshanbe means “Wednesday” and Suri means both “red” and “celebration”. In this “red celebration”, people go out and make bushfires and keep them burning till the next morning. This is symbolic of burning all that was bad, pain, unhappiness, sickness and worry, and looking forward to a new beginning. Before the start of the festival, people gather brushwood in an open, free exterior space. At sunset, after making one or more bonfires, they jump over the flames, singing “sorxi-ye to az man, zardi-ye man az to”, literally meaning “[let] your ruddiness [be] mine, my paleness yours”, or a local equivalent of it.
The festival has its origin in ancient Iranian rituals. The ancient Iranians celebrated the festival of Hamaspathmaedaya, held on the last five days of the year in honour of the spirits of the dead, which is today referred to as “Farvardinegan”. They believed that the spirits of the dead would come for reunion. The seven holy immortals were also honoured, and bidden a formal ritual farewell at the dawn of the New Year. The festival also coincided with festivals celebrating the creation of fire and humans.
Chaharshanbe Suri is the symbol of good health, cultivation, light, and purity to Iranians. It is believed that the ritual guarantees the dissipation of misfortune and evil, and the materialisation of people’s hopes and desires for the coming year.