Sizdah Bedar

The day is spent outdoors. From the morning onwards, families picnic in parks, gardens and countryside, making this one of the most visible practices for a traveller to encounter.

A characteristic custom is the disposal of the sabzeh (سبزه), the sprouted greens grown for the Haft-Seen display of Nowruz. Instead of keeping it or discarding it at home, people throw the sabzeh into moving water. Young unmarried people tie knots in the stems before returning the greens to the water.

Because the whole country is outdoors on the same day, public green spaces are heavily crowded, and roads out of cities are busy.

Sizdah Be-dar matters as the closing movement of the Nowruz period: on the thirteenth day of the year, the new-year observance is carried out of the house and into open ground. Returning the sabzeh grown for the Haft-Seen to moving water ends the household display by giving it away rather than simply putting it aside. The knots tied in the stems by unmarried people carry wishes, linking the act of leaving the house with hope for what is to come. It is not inscribed on any UNESCO list.