DUSHANBE March 6, 2014, Asia-Plus — The main Navrouz celebrations will take place in Dushanbe.
They will start in the evening of March 20 and will last through March 25, Shavkat Saidov, a spokesman for the Dushanbe mayor’s office, said.
The main celebrations will take place at the Navrouzgoh Complex in Dushanbe on March 21. Theatrical show will be held. Members of the government, representatives of diplomatic missions and international organization accredited to Tajikistan as well as residents and guests of Dushanbe will watch the show at the Navrouzgoh Complex.
The next two days, festive activities will be organized in amusement parks in all Dushanbe’s districts. Besides, street festivities will be held in the city.
On March 24, horse race will take place at the Navrouzgoh Complex and gushtingiri (Tajik national wrestling) competitions will be held at the Dushanbe Central Stadium.
This year, the Navrouz celebrations will last in Tajikistan six days – from March 21 through March 26. All these days will be days of rest.
Navrouz, which literary means New Day in Persian, Dari and Tajik languages, is the traditional Iranian new year holiday, celebrated by Iranian and many other peoples. It marks the first day of spring and is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox (the start of spring in the northern hemisphere), which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. Today, the festival of Navrouz is celebrated in many countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, as well as Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. Many peoples in West and South Asia, Northeast China, the Crimea, as well as Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia also celebrate this holiday. In September 2009, the UN”s cultural agency, UNESCO, included Navrouz in its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. On February 23, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly recognized the International Day of Navrouz.
