DUSHANBE, March 18, Asia-Plus — This year, the main events to celebrate the Navrouz holiday will be held in the Sughd province, Asia-Plus has learned from Orif Nabiyev, the head of the Sughd culture directorate.
The main theatrical show involving more than 6,000 people will be held in the square outside the building of the Sughd regional government in Khujand. President Emomali Rahmon is expected to participate in the events that will be held in Khujand on March 21.
Navrouz is the traditional Iranian new year holiday celebrated in Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan as well as in Azerbaijan, Northern Iraq, Turkey, Albania, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and among various other Iranian people in Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, India, northwest China, and the Caucasus.
Navrouz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the Persian/Iranian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox (start of spring in northern hemisphere), which usually occurs on the March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. The word comes from Tajik-Persian: nav=new and rouz=day, meaning “new day.”
