Spring has officially sprung, giving way to a new season. In addition to the new season, the Iranian Community at Michigan Tech are celebrating Norooz, the Persian New Year Sunday, March 24 with a ceremony held in the MUB Ballroom starting at 6 p.m.
This event will be Michigan Tech’s 6th Norooz celebration, featuring a banquet, dance performances, live traditional music, stand-up comedy and magic followed by an after party.
Norooz, also sometimes spelled Nowruz or Noruz, in a nutshell, means “New Day.” It is the new day that starts the year, traditionally the exact astronomical beginning of the spring. Iranians take that as the beginning of the year.
Iranians, along with many countries across the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus and beyond, celebrate this day as the day of positive transformation in a sense paralleling the transition from the cold, dark days of winter to the warmer and brighter days of springtime.
Norooz ushers in a celebratory period of two weeks, in which families take part in cleaning their homes, visit relatives, and share festive meals and gifts.
In Iran, families traditionally lay out a “haft-seen,” or a selection of seven symbolic items each beginning with the letter “S,” including fried fruit, sprouts or grasses, and spices, which will be presented in the library. Each of these items has a symbolic meaning behind its placement which is used to honor the oncoming spring and all that it represents as the days grow longer and the nights begin to grow shorter again.
Norooz was recognized by the U.N. in 2009 as a tradition of intangible cultural heritage, which “promotes values of peace and solidarity between generations and within families as well as reconciliation and neighborliness,” according to the U.N.
Come and check out the Norooz Persian New Year festivities the Sunday after spring break ends! This celebration is sure to get you in the mood for spring to come as soon as possible and will be a wonderful introduction to a different culture’s celebration of Spring.
Tickets will be sold at the MUB Commons, starting March 18 until 22, or until we sell out. Students can get tickets for $12 and non-student tickets are $15. Early bird tickets are also available for $10. Be sure to buy your tickets early as this event is sure to be popular!
