04/02/2026
Nowruz Message from the Arizona Persian Cultural Center
The first day of spring is Nowruz, also known as the Persian New Year. Nowruz is one of the oldest continuing traditions on earth, dating back over three thousand years. Our ancient tradition celebrates the prevalence of light over dark, the triumph of light over dark, renewal, rebirth, and the return of the Earth's natural cycle. We mark this thirteen day period, starting with the Fire Festival, then the Spring Equinox, and concluding with Sizdah Bedar or Nature's Day. For thousands of years, no matter the cost, no matter the hardship, Persians have celebrated Nowruz today. Two. In the face of unfathomable evil that has been inflicted upon the people of Iran for forty seven years, Nowruz still is marked. The Arizona Persian Cultural Center honors the women, men and children of Iran whose courage, intelligence, dignity and perseverance have endured through decades of state repression and violence, who have preserved the culture and history of Iran despite extreme repression and attempts to silence the voices of an ancient people and our ancient traditions. Even in these dark and difficult days, we know that the Persian culture is older than politics, resilient in the face of evil and stronger than anything or anyone that can try to wipe it out. This Nowruz we hope for freedom, justice, peace, prosperity, and joy for the people of Iran and people all around the world. The flames of our ancestral fires burn bright in our hearts and provide a compass in these troubled times. We reclaim this ancestral truth that the light always prevails over the darkness, and that the renewal and rebirth of spring always arrives for brighter days ahead. As a part of the same living story shaped by shared roots, families, language, history, culture, and tradition, we recognize the voices and enduring soul of the Persian culture and the hope, dignity and universal rights [truncated]…
