03/06/2026
This year, Norooz arrives carrying a weight we have never felt before.
The scent of hyacinth, the flicker of candlelight, the soft crackle of a fire we jump over to leave our sorrows behind - these rituals have always meant home. But home, this year, is undergoing difficult yet hopeful times.
As our people in Iran face uncertainty and struggles with breathtaking courage, we who stand far away are not untouched. Distance does not silence the echoes of their voices. Distance does not dry our tears.
So this Norooz, we will not simply celebrate. We will remember. We will set our Haft-Sin tables not out of habit, but out of defiance - because our culture, our language, our identity is something no force on earth has ever been able to extinguish, and none ever will.
We will hold each other a little tighter this year. We will say Norooz Pirooz with a lump in our throats and hope in our hearts and mean it more than ever - because to still be here, to still be us, is itself an act of resistance.
This Persian New Year, every candle we light is for them, for those who bravely took to the streets and for those who never made it back.
Every moment of joy we allow ourselves is dedicated to those who are fighting so that one day, we can all celebrate a free Iran.
We see you. We stand with you. And like the new year eve itself - hope is around the corner.
Let's gather on the most important event in Persian heritage to strengthen community ties.
