Saturday, March 25, 2023, from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Palais de Chaillot, March 25, 2023: The Hamava association is organizing this year’s Norouz Festival on March 25, 2023, from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM in support of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, in partnership with about twenty associations and collectives (Rudaki, International Norouz Day, Femme Azadi, Institut Regard Persan, Aftab, We Are Iranian Students, Maison Tahissa, Collectif Femme-Vie-Liberté de Montpellier, The Dissident Club, Afghan, Indian, Tajik, Pakistani, and Zoroastrian associations, …) on the terrace of the Palais de Chaillot in the Trocadéro Gardens. The Norouz Festival is purely cultural and educational and has no commercial or political purpose.
Norouz (meaning “the new day”) is the largest national festival in Iran. Celebrated for thousands of years, it originates from ancient Persia and symbolizes rebirth, light, and the victory of spring over darkness. It marks the arrival of the beautiful days and the awakening of nature. It is celebrated on March 14 (the Fire Festival) and culminates on the spring equinox, March 21, considered the first day of the new year.
An ancestral festival for 300 million people
A living cultural heritage
Let’s share this festival with the citizens of the world
Norouz is celebrated in countries influenced by the Persian Empire, where the sun and fire were sources of worship: Iran, Afghanistan, parts of the Middle East, as well as the former Soviet republics of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, the Kurdish regions (some in Iraq), and the Zoroastrian Parsis in India. The cultural heritage of Norouz was inscribed in 2009 on UNESCO’s and the UN’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list as an international festival born from a millennia-old cultural legacy. Over 300 million people worldwide celebrate Norouz as the start of the new year.
Norouz — also written Nowruz, Navruz, Nooruz, Nevruz, or Nauryz — means “the ninth day” or “the new day.” Its spelling and pronunciation vary across countries.
On the occasion of the Fire Festival, Iranians gather to celebrate the New Year around the sacred flames, and the holiday has become an official public holiday. This symbol has been adopted by the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement as a form of protest against the death of Mahsa Amini. Iranian women have transformed this symbolic tradition into a political act, burning their veils in the fire and dancing around it. That is why this year Norouz takes on an even more symbolic meaning, and we celebrate it in tribute to Iranian women who cherish freedom.