Persian New Year
Nowruz and the Persian New Year
Nowruz — “new day” — is the first day of spring and of the Persian year. It is celebrated by more than 300 million people, and its date is set not by a rule but by the Sun.
When is the next Nowruz?
Nowruz is 1 Farvardin, the first day of the Persian year. In the Gregorian calendar it falls on 20 or 21 March. Here are the coming dates, computed with the same calendar engine as our converter:
| Persian year | Nowruz (1 Farvardin) | Weekday |
|---|---|---|
| 1405 | 21 March 2026 | Saturday |
| 1406 | 21 March 2027 | Sunday |
| 1407 | 20 March 2028 | Monday |
| 1408 | 20 March 2029 | Tuesday |
| 1409 | 21 March 2030 | Thursday |
| 1410 | 21 March 2031 | Friday |
| 1411 | 20 March 2032 | Saturday |
| 1412 | 20 March 2033 | Sunday |
| 1413 | 21 March 2034 | Tuesday |
| 1414 | 21 March 2035 | Wednesday |
| 1415 | 20 March 2036 | Thursday |
| 1416 | 20 March 2037 | Friday |
The moment the year turns
Nowruz begins at a precise instant: the March equinox, when the Sun, moving north along its yearly path, crosses the celestial equator. Around that moment day and night are close to equal all over the world, and spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere.
In Iran this instant is called sāl-tahvil — “the turning of the year”. It is calculated in advance and announced to the second, and families gather around the haft-sin table to wait for it, whether it arrives at breakfast or in the middle of the night.
- 1 Farvardin · Nowruz March equinox
- 1 Tir June solstice
- 1 Mehr September equinox
- Yalda night → 1 Dey December solstice
The same four astronomical moments shape the whole Persian year: the June solstice falls at the start of Tir, the September equinox at the start of Mehr, and the December solstice on Yalda night, just before 1 Dey.
Why the Gregorian date moves
A solar year is about 365 days, 5 hours and 49 minutes long. So each year the equinox arrives almost six hours later in the day than the year before — until a Gregorian leap day pulls the calendar back by 24 hours. That is why the equinox wanders between roughly 19 and 21 March (in universal time) in a four-year rhythm.
The Persian calendar adds one more rule. If the equinox occurs before noon Iran time, that day is Nowruz; if it occurs after noon, Nowruz is the next day. Three recent years show both cases:
-
Before noon → Nowruz is the same day: 20 March
-
After noon → Nowruz is the next day: 21 March
-
After noon → Nowruz is the next day: 21 March
Put together, these rules place Nowruz on 20 or 21 March throughout this century. In the first half of the 20th century — after 1900, which was not a Gregorian leap year — it sometimes fell on 22 March; by the calendar rule, for the last time in 1959.
A festival older than the calendar
Nowruz predates the modern calendar by many centuries. Its customs vary from region to region and family to family, but some are widely shared in Iran:
- Chaharshanbe Suri — on the evening before the last Wednesday of the year, people light small bonfires and jump over them.
- Haft-sin — a table set with seven items whose Persian names begin with the letter sin (s), such as sabzeh (sprouted greens), samanu (wheat pudding), senjed (oleaster fruit), sir (garlic), sib (apple), somāq (sumac) and serkeh (vinegar), often alongside a mirror, candles, painted eggs and goldfish.
- Did-o-bazdid — visiting family and friends, usually starting with the eldest.
- Sizdah Bedar — on the 13th of Farvardin, people spend the day outdoors, and the sprouted greens from the haft-sin are released into running water.
In Iran the first four days of Farvardin are public holidays, and the 12th and 13th of Farvardin are holidays too.
Nowruz around the world
Nowruz is celebrated across Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Caucasus and beyond, and by diaspora communities worldwide. UNESCO first inscribed it on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009; the inscription was extended to twelve countries in 2016 and, with Mongolia, to thirteen in 2024. In 2010 the UN General Assembly proclaimed 21 March the International Day of Nowruz.
Your Nowruz in the other calendar
Want to know which Gregorian day a past or future Nowruz fell on — or which Persian date your own birthday is? Type it into the converter. For the bigger picture, read the Persian calendar, explained.
Sources
- UN General Assembly, Resolution 64/253, “International Day of Nowruz” (2010). digitallibrary.un.org
- UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Decision 11.COM 10.B.1 (2016): the multinational Nowruz inscription. ich.unesco.org
- UN News, “Secretary-General marks first International Day for Nowruz with call for peace”. news.un.org
- U.S. Naval Observatory, “Earth’s Seasons and Apsides” data service. aa.usno.navy.mil
- M. Heydari-Malayeri, “A concise review of the Iranian calendar” (2004). arXiv:astro-ph/0409620
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