Chaharshanbe Suri

On the night preceding Nowruz, the most important custom is the lighting of bonfires in yards, village squares, city streets, rooftops, and hilltops. People jump over the flames while saying sorkhi-ye to az man, zardi-ye man az to (سرخی تو از من، زردی من از تو), given as “your redness for my paleness.”

Visitors may also encounter qāšoq-zani (قاشق‌زنی), literally “spoon-banging”: people in disguises go door-to-door, hitting spoons against plates or bowls and receiving packaged snacks. Fortune-telling is also practised, including opening a book of poems by Hafez and interpreting a random verse.

In modern practice, firecrackers and fireworks are widely used. A survey of one hospital’s emergency department in Tabriz during the 2014 festival found that 72.9% of fireworks injuries came from firecrackers and 27.1% were burns from the fires themselves.

Chaharshanbe Suri matters as a living rite of renewal with ancient Zoroastrian origin. Held on the eve of the last Wednesday of the Iranian year, it opens the Nowruz cycle through a direct exchange with fire: the jumper asks the flame to take their paleness and give its redness in return — Sorkhi-ye to az man, zardi-ye man az to (سرخی تو از من، زردی من از تو) — carrying a wish for health into the new year. Its continuity is visible in the public places where it is practised: yards, village squares, city streets, rooftops and hilltops. It is not inscribed on any UNESCO list.