This year, Navrouz will be celebrated in Dushanbe with large-scale festivities from March 19 to 22, including cultural events, sports competitions, and youth programs, an official source within the Dushanbe Administration told Asia-Plus in an interview.

“This year, Navrouz festival promises to be a vibrant event in Dushanbe that will unite cultural and national traditions, creating a unique atmosphere of spring renewal for residents and guests of the capital.  The city is preparing to welcome numerous guests, and the capital’s venues will be filled with music, dances, and bright events, harmoniously blending traditions with modernity,” the source said.

This year, Navrouz festival will occur on March 20 at 14:01, but the public holidays will begin on March 21 and last until March 27.

 

Planned festivities in Dushanbe

  • March 19: The IV International Forum “Navrouz Dushanbe – the Axis of Cultural and Tourist Connections” will open the festive events.
  • March 21: At the highest point of the capital, in Victory Park, the Navrouz welcoming ceremony will take place at 4:00 AM. Festive concerts will be held in all districts of Dushanbe. The main concert will take place at 8:00 PM in Istiqlol Square, followed by a festive fireworks display at 9:00 PM.  At 3:00 PM, international horse racing competitions will begin at the state complex Navrouzgoh.
  • March 22: The International Tourism Festival and National Dishes Festival will be held in "Iram" Park.

Additionally, from March 15 to 21, the World Youth Festival entitled “Navrouz Youth World Festival” is taking place, gathering activists and youth leaders from around the world.

“This year, the main Navrouz celebrations will be held in Khujand, Sughd province on March 31, with the participation of the presidents of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan,” the official source within the Dushanbe Administration said.

 

"Sporty" Navrouz

  • March 23-26: A sports tourism competition will be held in Sughd’s Jabbor-Rasoulov district with 55 participants, including those from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Iran.
  • March 25-27: A wrestling tournament will take place in Sughd’s Istaravshan, with wrestlers from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, and Russia participating.

Several international sporting events have already taken place in the country, including traditional competitions in gushhtingiri wrestling and equestrian sports, which gathered participants from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, and Russia.

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.