Manitoba's Iranian community celebrate Nowruz in person for first time in two years

After waiting two long years, members of Manitoba's Iranian community are finally celebrating Nowruz — Persian New Year — in person. 

"It was a really good feeling … really good to see people's faces. Everybody was happy and we danced a lot together without masks," said Zhaleh Parsaei, who attended the celebration organized by the Iranian Community of Manitoba on Saturday night. 

Nowruz, meaning "new day," is celebrated during the vernal equinox — when the sun crosses the celestial equator and night and day are equal in length. It's also known as Novroz in the Ismaili Muslim tradition and Naw-Rúz in the Bahá'í faith. 

For the last two years, the holiday was celebrated virtually because of the pandemic.

This year, the big celebration was held at the Canad Inns Destination Centre Polo Park and had around 400 people attend, said Arian Arianpour, an organizer of the event with the Iranian community. 

"After two years of going virtual for Nowruz, it's really nice to be able to socialize with people and drink and dance. This made this year's Nowruz celebration even more special for us," he said. 

Arianpour said the event had music and dance performances, including a piece by Buffy Handel from the Aboriginal School of Dance. 

"Nowruz is not only about the renewal of the environment, it is associated with its virtues and values," Arianpour said. "Values like peace, solidarity, reconciliation."

Nowruz marks the arrival of spring and the first day of the new year in the Persian calendar.  

Parsaei says on the last Wednesday of the Persian calendar, people jump over small fires to remove bad luck — things like illnesses and disease — and start fresh. 

Before Nowruz, people will also clean their entire house and wash everything to "to be completely ready, clean and tidy for spring," she said. 

For Parsaei, the holiday is a time of delicious treats, family gatherings and excitement. She says the holiday is celebrated for 13 days, when people see all their relatives. 

'It's lots of good food, sweets and full of joy and happiness," she said. 

During this time, Parsaei says she would normally fly home to Iran, where the weather is warmer.