Hey everyone,
Just thought I'd wish anyone on here who celebrates this day a Happy Persian New Year! For those that are like... "what the heck!? New years in MARCH?!" here's a little information.
It's an ancient tradition for Iranians to begin their New Year on the first day of spring, which is defined by the vernal equinox. At 1:32pm today, March 20th, the sun will shine onto the Earth's surface directly at the equator. That means the northern and southern hemispheres will get an identical amount of sunlight for that short period of time. It's also the day where day (sunlight) and night (no sunlight) are equal in length.
In Persian, the day is called Norouz (pronounced 'Know'-'rooze'). It literally means 'New Day', and it's the largest holiday amongst Iranian people around the world.
If you're interested in reading more, good ol' Wikipedia actually has a good description of the celebrations, and various traditional festivities that go along with it.
Norouz on Wikipedia
Unfortunately in recent years, a certain stigma has been associated with the Iranian people, and I'm aware many of you are aware of the unrest that occurred, and still occurs, last year. Here's a chance to ignore the politics and media regarding the Iranian government, and acknowledge, appreciate, and celebrate the very rich and joyful culture of the most Iranian people!
Norouz Mobarak,
Ali Hashemi
