All about Nowruz: when does the spring begin?
This video features ordinary Bakuvians, not the dancers at all, who are going to dance the national ‘Yalli’ dance in honor of Nowruz. When does the spring begin? All about Nowruz.
Nowruz is the day of vernal equinox, the most ancient holiday marked in Azerbaijan. On March 20 (or 19, or 21, a precise date is reported by the astronomers), the ‘pagan’ New Year comes, the day and night are equalized and the spring begins.
The festival is not only celebrated at the national level, but there are also lengthy banking holidays, for example, this year there will be 9 day-offs.
Nowruz is always celebrated on a large scale. For example, in Baku, there are the ongoing folk festivities with street performances and all the attributes it entails.
The celebrations actually start one month before the holiday. The matter is that 4 Tuesdays preceding the holiday symbolize 4 elements, worshiped by Zaroastrians, who used to live in the territory of Azerbaijan in ancient times: wind, earth, water and fire.
The last Tuesday before the holiday, the Earth Tuesday, is the most important one and it was celebrated this year with a festive cavalcade and fireworks.
Spring begins when the Sun moves from constellation Pisces and enter the constellation Aries, and not on March 1, as many people think. We’ve got interested, how Nowruz is celebrated in its ‘homeland’, in Shamakhi Observatory, where people first learn about the beginning of Spring.
Pirgulu, a resort area not far from Shamakhi, is the Bakuvians’ favorite recreation zone, because it’s cheap and not far from the capital.
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