Across Central and West Asia, flowers are lighting up deserts, orchards and ancient cities. According to the Solar Hijri calendar, it’s almost time to celebrate an ancient spring festival – Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

“Nowruz means ‘new day’ in our language,” says Diana Ramezani of the Illawarra Iranian Association, which is planning a New Year party on Thursday, March 20 at the University of Wollongong.

“It's the beginning of our year, it's exactly at the beginning of spring. Right now my city, Tehran, will be bursting with blooms. It’s very beautiful.”

“Nowruz goes back at least 5000 years of recorded history, it could be even more,” says Ramin Bayani, a fellow member of the Illawarra Iranian Association.

“It’s celebrated in Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, parts of Turkey and Iraq, out to northern India.”

Millions of people are set to rejoice in the season of rebirth, including our local community, which Ramin says numbers about 2000 people.

“Nowruz is timed with the northern spring. The year changes in tune with nature, as the trees blossom, so the year changes,” he says, recalling how his village used to light up with beautiful white apple tree blossoms.

Journey to Wollongong

Ramin and Diana left Iran to find better opportunities in a new country.

At age 18, Ramin set off on an adventurous journey, travelling from Tehran to western Pakistan, riding a camel through desert dunes and undertaking a risky border crossing. He sought refuge in Pakistan for 17 months, then came to Australia in 1989.

“I spent the first eight or nine years at university in Sydney,” he says.

Ramin followed his dream, graduated and became an optometrist. He moved to the Illawarra 28 years ago and now runs his own practice in Warrawong.

By contrast, Diana describes herself as a ‘newcomer’, arriving more conventionally by plane in 2023. Diana is a psychologist who now works as a multicultural support coordinator. Both Iranians value the equality and respect for human rights that they’ve found in Australia.

“But leaving home is not easy,” Diana says.

Community comes together

The Illawarra Iranian Association’s Nowruz event is a chance to come together and celebrate with traditional music, dancing and food.

“Rice with fish and herbs like parsley and dill – that is the traditional Nowruz dish,” Ramin says.

Persian rice is hard to find locally now that Crown Street’s Iranian shop has closed. Ramin says Warrawong’s LotusMart grocers stocks rice that’s similar but for true Persian rice – which he and Diana describe as “creative, colourful and aromatic” – they’d have to travel to Sydney. For a good recipe, Diana recommends Sabzi Polo ba Mahi by Persian Mama.

Other popular dishes during Nowruz are Ash Reshteh, a thick soup with noodles, herbs, peas and beans, and Samanu, a sweet wheat dessert.

Rich in symbolism

Nowruz has evolved from an ancient spring rite to become a secular festival, recognised by the United Nations for fostering cultural diversity, peace and unity. Its origins lie in the Zoroastrian era and the ancient Persian empire. Today it is celebrated in many ways, but overall it’s a time of joy for family and friends, filled with poetry, symbolism and ritual.

In Iran, Nowruz begins with shopping and spring cleaning, the time of Khoneh Takooni, or ‘shaking of the house’. Next comes the painting of decorative eggs, representing fertility, and gathering objects for the ‘Haft-Seen’ table.

“We prepare a table with seven things that start with S in our language,” Diana says. “Each S is symbolic of one thing and the main thing is sprouts, a sign of new life.”

As well as wheatgrass, tables feature the pudding samanu (representing sweetness and fertility), vinegar (age and patience), the sweet and dry fruit of the lotus tree (love), apples (beauty), garlic (good health) and the spice sumac (sunrise and light overcoming darkness).

Traditions live on

Ramin recalls Nowruz as a time of feasting in his village, visiting one house after another, starting with his grandparents. On one night, like Halloween, kids would dress up and disguise themselves, then knock on a neighbour’s door to ask for lollies.

Diana remembers believing in a male figure like Santa, who came bearing gifts after a winter ruled by Nane Sarma [Grandmother Frost].

“We call him Amu Nowruz, which means Uncle Nowruz. My mum always bought something for us and in the morning of the new year, when I woke up, I found my gifts and I believe that I was a very good girl so Uncle Nowruz gave me presents. It is one of my best memories.”

One tradition that’s survived millennia is jumping over a bonfire on the last Wednesday before Nowruz, symbolically shedding sickness and embracing health. It’s also said that placing a fire on the top of your house will help angels can find it and bring blessings. Lighting candles is a common custom and Diana says her nana believed you should never blow them out as fire is sacred – candles should burn to the end.

Nowruz celebrations begin on the equinox, when the sun passes above the equator and night and day are equal. This year that will be at 12.31pm in Tehran, 8.01pm in Wollongong on March 20.

Bowls of goldfish – which symbolise 'life' – are another traditional feature in many homes.

“I remember when I was young, my dad used to tell me that at the exact moment of the changing time, the fish actually comes to the surface,” Ramin says.

Wisdom of poets

Families treasure poetry and display the works of 12th and 13th-century Persian poets Hafez  and Saadi Shirazi, whose verses about humans being of one essence and soul are inscribed above the entry of a United Nations building in New York.

Renewing friendships is important in Nowruz, Ramin says. “Forget about past animosities and make a fresh start, wipe the slate clean. A lot of disputes get resolved on the Nowruz day.”

Nowruz runs for 13 days, ending with big family picnics outdoors.

“On the 13th day, you’re not supposed to stay home,” Ramin says, with Diana explaining that this dates from a story about the prophet Solomon and how good people left the city to find him and invite him to return.

“Everybody goes to picnic in parks – just celebrate and have fun and dance and music and food,” Ramin says.

“That caps off the Nowruz celebration.”

Tickets to the Wollongong Nowruz celebration are available here