Today is Nowruz, a national holiday in Kyrgyzstan. It can be simply described as Persian New Year. It coincides with the first day of Spring, which is an event everyone celebrates after a long Kyrgyz winter. Even though the Kyrgyz are not Persian in origin and despite the fact that there aren't a great many Persian peoples residing in the country, it is still a tremendously important holiday that people celebrate with great gusto.
I went to the main square of Bishkek to witness the celebrations. People dress in traditional clothing and groups sing and dance old traditional songs. It's also a bit of a multicultural day as people from all cultures also participate and give out samples of their new year's foods.
Nowruz is an extremely old holiday that predates Christianity and Islam--it actually has its roots in the ancient Zoroastrianism religion which began in Persia. The peoples of modern day Iran and all the nations of Central Asia have such a strong connection to Nowruz that the fundamentalist Islamic efforts to de-emphasize the holiday have been resoundingly ineffective.
The following link gives a much more complete explanation of Nowruz:
www.vox.com/2016/3/20/11265872/persian-new-year-nowruz
Below are pictures of Bishkek's national celebration of Nowruz, celebrated under clear skies and mild temperatures. I guess it really is Spring, so Happy Spring, Happy Nowruz!
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| Two ancient Kyrgyz celebrating an ancient holiday |
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| In the main square, behind the performance stage and yurt |
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| Young dancers preparing to go on stage |
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| Bishkek Television interviewing cultural fair food providers: notice the yurt logo on the microphone |
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| Tajik dancers |
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| Concert of mountain horns |
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