Nowrūz (Persian: نوروز /noruz/ ↔ [nowɾuz],(Turkish: Nevruz) (Kurdish: Newroz) (English: New Day) various local pronunciations and spellings) is the traditional Iranian new year holiday celebrated by Iranian, Turkic and many other peoples in West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Northwestern China, the Caucasus, the Crimea, and in Albania, Bosnia, Kosova and Macedonia.

Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the Iranian year. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox (start of spring in northern hemisphere), which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. As well as being a Zoroastrian holiday, it is also a holy day for adherents the Bahá'í Faith.^[1] In Iran it is also referred to as an Eid festival, although it is not an Islamic feast. Alawites^[2] and Nizari Ismaili Muslims^[3] also celebrate Nowruz.

(... from Wikipedia on 2009-01-01 08:27:16 )