{"id":20838,"date":"2013-03-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-03-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/global2020prd.wpengine.com\/insights\/nowruz-its-now\/"},"modified":"2020-03-21T08:24:26","modified_gmt":"2020-03-21T08:24:26","slug":"nowruz-its-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/nowruz-its-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Nowruz – it’s Now!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"graphicFollowers of this blog will know that we\u2019ve regularly talked about New Year<\/a>, and how it\u2019s something of a moveable feast Worldwide.<\/p>\n

Nowruz (pronounced no-rooz) is the celebration of the Persian new year and is being celebrated today and tomorrow in many parts of the world.<\/p>\n

The first word \u2018now\u2019 is the Persian \u2018new\u2019 and the second, \u2018ruz\u2019 means day. (It can also be spelt Noroz, Norouz \u00a0and Norooz.)\u00a0It falls on the first day \u00a0of the first month on the Persian calendar (Farvardin, which \u2013 to make things complex – in three out of four years begins on March 21 and ends on April 20, and in the others on March 19 or 22, ending April 18 or 21).<\/p>\n

Nowruz also coincides with the astronomical ‘Vernal Equinox Day’ – the first day of spring – and it\u2019s this that many celebrate. The International Day of Nowruz has, this decade, been registered on the UNESCO \u2018List of \u00a0Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity\u2019<\/a>, spreading \u00a0festivities to countries like the US and Canada, aiming to promote peace and solidarity between generations and inside families, reconciliation and neighbourliness, contributing to cultural diversity<\/a> and friendship across communities.<\/p>\n

Nowruz is a secular holiday, celebrated for different reasons by different peoples, but it\u2019s religious roots can be traced to Zoroastrianism, a religion whose\u00a0 practices dominated ancient Persia (mostly what is now Iran). Zoroastrian communities still actively practise, the largest in southern Iran and India. For the Parsi community, Nowruz is their spiritual New Year and hence has huge importance.\u00a0It is also a holy day for Alawites (Syrian mystics) and Alevis, and is hugely significant for followers of the Bah\u00e1’\u00ed faith.<\/p>\n

Geographically, the festival’s origins in \u00a0Persia mean that\u00a0the Middle East and Central Asia<\/span>\u00a0is where the holiday is primarily celebrated.\u00a0<\/span>In many areas, children will have a fourteen-day vacation from school, and most adults have time off work. Friends and family share meals in each other\u2019s homes. Preparation starts early with a traditional spring cleaning, new clothes and new furniture.<\/span><\/p>\n

Countries where business may be affected include Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan – and more!<\/p>\n

Cultural festivities may include:<\/p>\n