Iranian Festivals and Celebrations: A Guide to Persian Traditions

Iran keeps three calendars at once, and its festivals follow all of them. Nowruz arrives with the spring equinox, Yalda with the longest night, and the Zoroastrian name-day feasts such as Sadeh, Tirgan and Mehregan fall on fixed days of the solar year. The Islamic holidays move about eleven days earlier every year, so Ramadan, Eid and Ashura land in a different season each decade.

This page is the calendar for the next fourteen months, from November 2026 to the end of 2027, followed by a short guide to each festival: what it means, what you will see in the street, and what closes. Each festival links to our longer article on it.

Iranian festival calendar 2026/2027

Solar dates below come from the official Iranian calendar for 1405 and are fixed. Dates marked (approx.) follow the Islamic lunar calendar: they are published in advance but confirmed only when the new moon is sighted, so they can shift by a day. Iranian festivals usually begin at sunset on the evening before the listed day, which is why Yalda and Chaharshanbe Suri are given as evenings.

Festivals and celebrations

Religious holidays and mourning days

Iran also closes for three fixed national days: Revolution Day on Thursday 11 February 2027, Islamic Republic Day on Thursday 1 April 2027, and the anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini’s death and the 15 Khordad uprising on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 June 2027. For the full list of days off, see Iran public holidays.

How Iranian festival dates work

Daily life runs on the Solar Hijri calendar. Its year starts at the moment of the March equinox, its first six months have 31 days and the next five have 30, so a solar festival falls on the same Gregorian date, give or take a day, year after year.

The old Zoroastrian calendar had twelve months of 30 days, and a feast was held whenever the name of the day matched the name of the month. Mehregan, for instance, is the day of Mehr in the month of Mehr, the sixteenth. Moved onto today’s solar calendar, that day becomes 10 Mehr. This is why you will see Mehregan given as both the 16th and the 10th of Mehr, and Tirgan as both the 13th and the 10th of Tir. The official calendar keeps Tirgan on 13 Tir and Mehregan on 10 Mehr.

Islamic holidays follow the lunar Hijri calendar, which is about eleven days shorter than the solar year. In 2026 Eid al-Fitr fell on Nowruz itself; in 2027 it comes ten days before it.

Nowruz: Iran’s Global Celebration

Nowruz means “new day”. The Iranian year turns at the exact second of the spring equinox, called tahvil-e sal, and families sit round the haft-sin table to wait for it, watching the countdown on television. In 2027 that moment comes at about 23:54 Iran time on Saturday 20 March, so most people will see the new year in just before midnight, and Nowruz Day is Sunday 21 March. Read our Nowruz 2027 guide for the full fortnight.

Origins and Zoroastrian Influence

Nowruz is older than Islam in Iran. It grew from a Zoroastrian spring feast that honoured light, renewal and the return of warmth to the land, and it was a court festival under the Achaemenid kings (550 to 330 BCE). The reliefs of delegations bringing gifts up the Apadana stairs at Persepolis are often read as a Nowruz scene. In the eleventh century astronomers working for the Seljuk sultan Malik-Shah, Omar Khayyam among them, reformed the calendar so that the new year would stay tied to the equinox. More on this in Nowruz in pre-Islamic times.

Symbolism and Elements of the Haft-Seen Table

Every home sets a haft-sin table, a spread of seven items whose Persian names begin with the letter sin, the “s” sound:

1. Sabzeh: wheat, lentil or mung bean sprouts grown in a dish, for rebirth.
2. Samanu: a thick, sweet pudding of sprouted wheat, stirred for hours, for strength and patience.
3. Senjed: dried oleaster fruit, for love.
4. Seer: garlic, for health.
5. Seeb: an apple, for beauty.
6. Somagh: sumac, the colour of sunrise.
7. Serkeh: vinegar, for age and patience.

Most tables also carry a mirror, painted eggs, candles, a goldfish in a bowl, coins and a book: the Quran in many homes, the Divan of Hafez or the Shahnameh in others. In the last week of Esfand you can buy all of it from the street stalls of a Nowruz bazaar, and you may hear the tambourine of Hajji Firuz before you see his red suit.

Modern-Day Global Recognition and Festivities

Nowruz is also celebrated in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, the Kurdish regions of Iraq and Turkey, and across Central Asia. UNESCO lists it as shared intangible cultural heritage, and in 2010 the United Nations declared 21 March the International Day of Nowruz. See Nowruz around the world.

In Iran the weeks before are for khaneh tekani, “shaking the house”, a deep spring clean, and for new clothes. The first days are for eid didani, visits to the oldest relatives first, where children receive crisp new banknotes tucked into a book. The new year meal is usually sabzi polo ba mahi, herbed rice with fish.

The holiday ends on the thirteenth day with Sizdah Bedar. Families leave the city for parks and riversides, spend the day picnicking, and throw the sabzeh from their haft-sin into running water. Young women knot blades of grass and wish for a good marriage. By late afternoon the roads back into Tehran are full.

For travellers: offices close from 1 to 4 Farvardin, and many bazaar shops close for the first days. Museums and major sites generally stay open but are at their busiest of the year, and trains, domestic flights and hotels in Isfahan, Shiraz, Yazd and Kashan sell out weeks ahead. Shiraz in particular fills up; see spring and Nowruz in Shiraz.

Chaharshanbe Suri

Zardi-ye man az to, sorkhi-ye to az man. “My yellow paleness to you, your red glow to me.” People say it to the flames as they jump the small bonfires lit in alleys, parks and on the edge of town on the last Tuesday evening of the Iranian year. In 2027 that is the evening of Tuesday 16 March, the eve of the year’s last Wednesday.

Symbolism of Fire and Purification

Fire is sacred in Zoroastrianism, and jumping it is a way to leave the year’s illness and bad luck behind before Nowruz. Chaharshanbe means Wednesday; suri is usually explained as “red”, for the fire. The custom predates Islam, and older belief held that the spirits of the dead came home in the last days of the year, so fires were lit on rooftops to guide them.

Customs Beyond the Flames

• Ghashogh zani: children, and sometimes adults, wrapped in a chador or a scarf to hide their faces, go from door to door banging a spoon on a bowl, and are given sweets or ajil.
• Ajil-e moshkel gosha: the “problem-solving” mix of nuts and dried fruit, eaten that night and shared with neighbours.
• Fortune telling: wishes and small divinations for the year ahead.

For travellers: it is not a public holiday, so the day runs normally. After dark the sound of firecrackers carries across every city, some of them loud. Watch from a distance rather than from the middle of a crowded street. Our Chaharshanbe Suri guide has photos and more detail.

Yalda Night: The Victory of Light Over Darkness

Yalda, or Shab-e Chelleh, is the last night of autumn and the longest of the year. Families stay up late, usually at the grandparents’ house, and eat their way through it. Yalda 2026 is the evening of Monday 21 December (30 Azar 1405); in 2027 it is the evening of Tuesday 21 December. UNESCO added Yalda/Chella to its intangible heritage list in 2022, jointly for Iran and Afghanistan.

Astronomical Relevance and Mythology

The name is a Syriac word for “birth”, taken to mean the birth of the sun, since the days start to lengthen after the solstice. In the Zoroastrian view darkness was hostile, and keeping company through the longest night was protection against it. The next morning, 1 Dey, is still marked in the official calendar as the “birthday of the sun”.

Modern Customs: Family Gatherings, Poetry, and Traditional Dishes

In the days before, the fruit shops stack watermelons and pomegranates on the pavement, and markets such as Rasht’s are piled high with them. On the night itself someone opens the Divan of Hafez at random and reads the ghazal on that page aloud, as an answer to a silent question. This is fal-e Hafez, and everyone takes a turn.

• Pomegranates, opened and seeded into bowls, sometimes with a pinch of salt and golpar (ground Persian hogweed seed).
• Watermelon, kept since summer, eaten so you will not fall ill in the cold months.
• Ajil, a mix of nuts, roasted chickpeas and dried fruit, and sweets such as pumpkin halva.

Our Yalda food guide lists 17 dishes, and Yalda music and songs covers the soundtrack. Yalda is not a public holiday; shops and museums keep normal hours, but restaurants and cafés in big cities are busy that evening.

Mehregan: The Festival of Friendship and Gratitude

Mehr is the Persian form of Mithra, the old Iranian guardian of contracts, friendship and light, and also the name of the first month of autumn. Mehregan, his feast, was once second only to Nowruz and marked the autumn harvest. The official calendar places it on 10 Mehr, which is Saturday 2 October 2027, and links it with Kaveh the Blacksmith’s uprising and Fereydun’s victory over the tyrant Zahhak, a story told in the Shahnameh. UNESCO inscribed the Ceremony of Mehregan in 2024, jointly for Iran and Tajikistan.

Cultural Expressions and Festive Traditions

Zoroastrian families in Yazd, Kerman and Tehran clean the house and set a table with a mirror, candles, a bowl of rose water, nuts, autumn fruit and pomegranates, often on a purple cloth. Prayers come first, then a shared meal, usually ash-e reshteh or saffron rice.

Today it is a community celebration rather than a public holiday, held in Zoroastrian centres and fire temple courtyards, with music and children’s performances. Read more in Mehregan, the celebration of autumn.

Sadeh: Fire in Midwinter

Sadeh means “one hundred” and falls fifty days and fifty nights after Yalda, on 10 Bahman, which is Saturday 30 January 2027. The Shahnameh credits the discovery of fire to the mythical king Hushang, who threw a stone at a serpent, missed, and struck a spark. The official calendar remembers him on this day.

Zoroastrian communities light a large bonfire at dusk, with singing and prayers around it. Kerman’s Sadeh is one of the best known. UNESCO inscribed the Sadeh/Sada celebration in 2023, for Iran and Tajikistan, and notes that afterwards villagers traditionally clean streams and pools and repair bridges together. It is not a public holiday. For background, read Zoroastrianism in Iran.

Tirgan: The Water Festival

Tirgan, on 13 Tir (Sunday 4 July 2027), is a midsummer festival of rain and water. It honours Tishtar, the star that brings rain, and remembers Arash the Archer, who in the legend climbed the Alborz and shot an arrow so far that it fixed the border between Iran and Turan. Read more in ancient Persian myths and legends.

The customs are wet ones. People splash each other with water, and in villages of Mazandaran some still tie a coloured thread round the wrist, the tir-o-bad, and throw it into a stream a few days later for luck. Tirgan is not a public holiday.

Sepandarmazgan: The Iranian Day of Love

Spandarmad is the Zoroastrian guardian of the earth, devotion and women. Her feast was the fifth day of the last month in the old 30-day calendar; on today’s calendar it falls on 29 Bahman, which is Thursday 18 February 2027. Men gave gifts to their wives and mothers. In recent years it has been revived as an Iranian alternative to Valentine’s Day, four days after 14 February, and the official calendar now calls it the day of love. Our article on love in Iran covers how couples mark both.

Zoroastrian Gahanbar Festivals

The six Gahanbars are seasonal feasts, each traditionally five days long, that celebrate a stage of creation. Their dates follow the Zoroastrian calendar, and local communities in Yazd and Kerman announce them each year.

The Six Stages of Creation

1. Maidyozarem (mid-spring): the sky.
2. Maidyoshahem (midsummer): water.
3. Paitishahem (harvest): the earth.
4. Ayathrem (autumn): plants.
5. Maidyarem (midwinter): animals.
6. Hamaspathmaidyem (the end of the year): humankind.

Rituals, Community Spirit, and Shared Meals

A Gahanbar is above all a shared meal. Families who can afford it sponsor the food, everyone else contributes what they can, prayers are recited, and the meal is open to rich and poor alike. It puts into practice the Zoroastrian ideas of asha, truth and right order, and vohu manah, good mind.

Monthly Zoroastrian Festivals

Each month has its own name-day feast, when the day and month share a name. Most are small community events today. The official calendar lists these:

• Farvardingan, 19 Farvardin: the day for the souls of the departed, when families visit graves and light candles.
• Khordadgan, 6 Khordad: water and wholeness.
• Tirgan, 13 Tir: rain, and Arash the Archer.
• Amordadgan, 7 Mordad: plants and immortality.
• Shahrivargan, 4 Shahrivar: metals and just rule.
• Mehregan, 10 Mehr: friendship and the harvest.
• Abangan, 10 Aban: the waters and Anahita; Monday 1 November 2027.
• Azargan, 9 Azar: fire; Monday 30 November 2026 and Tuesday 30 November 2027.
• Bahmangan, 2 Bahman: good mind and the animals.
• Sepandarmazgan, 29 Bahman: the earth and love.

The biggest Zoroastrian gathering of the year is not a feast but a pilgrimage. From 14 to 18 June, thousands of Zoroastrians climb to the mountain shrine of Chak Chak (Pir-e Sabz) near Ardakan, north of Yazd. In 2027 those days overlap with Tasua and Ashura.

Shiite Religious Observances

Most of Iran’s public holidays are Shia religious days, some joyful and some in mourning. You can usually tell which from the street: green and coloured lights for a birthday, black banners for a martyrdom. Religion in Iran gives the wider picture.

Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr (Eid-e Fetr)

Ramadan 2027 is expected to begin around Monday 8 February, with Eid al-Fitr on Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 March, both public holidays. During the month many restaurants and cafés close in daylight, and eating, drinking and smoking in public during the day is not acceptable, for visitors too; ask your hotel how it serves guests during the day. After sunset the mood changes: iftar spreads, zoolbia and bamieh in every pastry shop, and late nights. On Eid morning there are large congregational prayers, then family visits and gifts for children. See visiting Iran during Ramadan.

Eid al-Adha (Eid-e Ghorban)

The Feast of Sacrifice, expected on Monday 17 May 2027, remembers Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son. Families who can afford it slaughter a sheep and share the meat with relatives, neighbours and people in need. It is a public holiday.

Eid al-Ghadir

Eid al-Ghadir, expected on Tuesday 25 May 2027, marks the day Shia Muslims believe the Prophet named Ali as his successor at Ghadir Khumm. It is a public holiday and a happy one: sweets and sherbet handed out in the street, decorated mosques, and gifts from sayyeds, descendants of the Prophet, to friends and family.

Muharram, Tasua and Ashura

Muharram is the month of mourning for Imam Hussein, killed at Karbala in 680 CE. It builds over ten nights to Tasua and Ashura, the ninth and tenth days, expected on Monday 14 and Tuesday 15 June 2027. Black banners go up, men march in dasteh processions beating their chests in rhythm, and mosques and takiyehs stage ta’zieh, the passion play. Free food, often sholeh zard or gheimeh, is cooked in huge pots and given out as nazri. In Yazd and the towns around it, men carry the towering wooden nakhl on Ashura.

For travellers: both days are public holidays, most shops close, many museums and historic sites close, and streets are closed for processions. Dress soberly; dark clothes are a sign of respect. Visitors are welcome to watch, but ask before photographing mourners. Read observing Ashura in Iran before you go.

Other days you will notice

Arbaeen, forty days after Ashura, and the martyrdom of Imam Reza bring huge crowds to Mashhad; book well ahead if your dates coincide. The birthday of Imam Ali is also Father’s Day, and Nimeh-ye Sha’ban, the birthday of the twelfth Imam, fills city streets with lights and stalls giving out sweets and drinks after dark.

Christian and Jewish Celebrations

Iran’s Armenian, Assyrian and Catholic communities celebrate Christmas on 25 December, and Armenian Apostolic families on 6 January, after a period of fasting. In Tehran the shops around Mirza-ye Shirazi Street and the Armenian quarter fill with trees, tinsel and Santa figures, and families of every faith come to shop and take photos. See Christmas in Iran and Christmas in Tehran’s Armenian districts. In mid-August Armenian churches bless the first grapes of the harvest after the Assumption liturgy, on the Sunday closest to 15 August: Blessing of the Grapes in Tehran.

Iran’s Jewish community lights the Hanukkah candles in December like Jews everywhere; in 2026 the first candle is on the evening of 4 December. Read how Hanukkah is celebrated in Iran, and for churches to visit, Christian heritage in Iran.

Regional Celebrations in Iran

Many Iranian festivals are local: one valley, one crop, one shrine. They are rarely on any national list, and their exact day depends on the harvest or the local custom, so confirm close to the time.

Kurdish New Year (Nowruz)

In Kurdistan and Kermanshah, Nowruz is greeted with bonfires on the hillsides and halparke, the line dance, to the daf. Kurdish tradition ties the festival to Kaveh the Blacksmith’s revolt against Zahhak. The stepped village of Palangan is a fine place to see it: Nowruz in Palangan.

In Hawraman, the midwinter Pir Shalyar ritual and the spring Komsai gathering belong to the village of Hawraman Takht. Read the Kurdistan travel guide to plan a visit.

Kashan: rose water and carpet washing

From mid-May to mid-June the damask roses bloom in the villages around Kashan: Qamsar, Niasar, Barzuk and Azvar, which bloom at slightly different times because they sit at different altitudes. The petals go into stills to make golab, rose water, and bottles are stacked outside front doors for sale. It is a harvest season rather than an organised festival, and the air in Qamsar smells of roses. See the damask rose festival and our Kashan guide.

In autumn, the village of Mashhad-e Ardehal near Kashan holds Qalishuyan at the mausoleum of Soltan Ali. Villagers from Khaveh sprinkle a carpet with rose water, men from Fin carry it out to running water, and it is brought back to the shrine. It is held on the Friday closest to 17 Mehr; in 2027 that should be Friday 8 October.

Gilan and Mazandaran

Along the Caspian, Gilan welcomes spring with the Bride of Flowers (Aroos-e Gooli), a folk play once taken from village to village by travelling performers around Nowruz. In Mazandaran, Tirgan is still kept with water and the tir-o-bad thread. Late summer is the rice harvest, and Gilani kitchens turn to mirza ghasemi and baghala ghatogh, broad beans with dill and egg.

Khorasan: the saffron harvest

In October and November the saffron crocus flowers across Khorasan, and families pick the purple flowers by hand, often early in the day. It is a working harvest rather than a festival, but visitors who time a trip to Mashhad or Torbat-e Heydarieh can see it: Iranian saffron.

Planning a trip around Iranian festivals

• Nowruz (late March to early April) is the busiest travel period of the year. Book trains, flights and hotels early, and expect closed bazaars in the first days.
• Tasua and Ashura (mid-June 2027) bring two days of closures and processions worth seeing. Plan sightseeing around them.
• Ramadan (February to March 2027) is quieter in daylight and lively after sunset. Carry water and snacks discreetly for long drives.
• Yalda, Chaharshanbe Suri, Sadeh, Mehregan and Tirgan are not public holidays, so they cost you nothing in closures.
• Weekends: Friday is the main weekly day off. When a holiday falls next to a Friday, many people take a long weekend and roads out of Tehran fill.

The best time to visit Iran guide covers the weather by region. If you want a festival in your itinerary, our cultural tours and private tours can be built around Nowruz, Yalda or a local harvest, and tailor-made tours let you choose the dates. Browse all Iran tours, and check the Iran tourist visa requirements early if you are travelling at Nowruz.

Frequently asked questions about Iranian festivals

What is the most important festival in Iran?

Nowruz, the Persian New Year. It begins at the spring equinox, the official holiday lasts four days, and the celebrations run for thirteen days until Sizdah Bedar.

When is Nowruz 2027?

The year 1406 begins at about 23:54 Iran time on Saturday 20 March 2027, so Nowruz Day is Sunday 21 March. Sizdah Bedar falls on Friday 2 April.

When is Yalda Night 2026?

The evening of Monday 21 December 2026, running until sunrise on Tuesday 22 December.

Are Zoroastrian festivals public holidays in Iran?

No. Sadeh, Mehregan, Tirgan and Sepandarmazgan are marked in the official calendar but are not days off. Zoroastrian communities hold their own celebrations, and some are open to visitors.

Why do Islamic holidays change date every year?

They follow the lunar calendar, which is about eleven days shorter than the solar year, and each month begins only when the new moon is sighted. Treat any lunar date as approximate until a few days before.