Newroz celebration by Kurds from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norouz#Newroz_celebration_by_Kurds
It is a tradition to jump over a fire at Newroz
The word 'Newroz' is Kurdish for 'Nowruz'. The Kurds celebrate this feast between 18th till 21st March. It is one of the few ‘people's celebrations’ that has survived and predates all the major religious festivals. The holiday is considered by Kurds to be the single most important holiday of every year.
With this festival Kurds gather into the fairgrounds mostly outside the cities to welcome spring. Women wear colored dresses and spangled head scarves and young men wave flags of green, yellow and red, the colors of the Kurdish people. They hold this festival by lighting fire and dancing around it.
The main Kurdish greeting that accompanies the festival is, Newroz pîroz be! literally translating to Holy Newroz, or, simply, Happy Newroz!. Another greeting used is, Bijî Newroz!, simply meaning Long live Newroz!
The festival was illegal until 2000 in Turkey, where the majority of Kurds live, and "Thousands of people have been detained in Turkey, as the authorities take action against suspected supporters of the Kurdish rebel movement, the PKK" (There is a little difference between PKK and Kurds). The holiday is now official in Turkey after international pressure on the Turkish government to lift culture bans.
Newroz is still largely considered as a potent symbol of Kurdish identity in Turkey. Newroz celebrations are usually organised by Kurdish cultural associations and pro-Kurdish political parties. Thus, the Democratic Society Party was a leading force in the organisation of the 2006 Newroz events throughout Turkey. In recent years the Newroz celebration gathers around 1 million participants in Diyarbakir, the biggest city of the Kurdish dominated Southeastern Turkey.
In other largely populated Kurdish regions in the Middle East including Iraq and Syria, similar celebrations are carried out with fire, dancing and music. In Iran, it is the most important festival of the whole year.
In Sanandaj (the capital of Iranian Kordestan), jumping over the fire (known as Chahar Shanbeh Suri) happens on New Year's Eve (rather the last Tuesday of the year).
Getting To Sumac
Accessible entrance at back door at 73 Beech Avenue . Full directions: http://www.veggies.org.uk/sumac/map.html
Postcode: NG7 6HX . Mapping websites: http://maps.google.co.uk . http://www.streetmap.co.uk . http://www.multimap.com (photo)
Note: Maps are based on postcodes which can cover a wide area, especially for rural locations. Public Transport details may be available from http://www.traveline.org.uk/
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.jpg/250px-Newroz_Istanbul(4).jpg "click to view image")
The next Small World Cinema on Wednesday 25th March is a few days after Kurdish New Year, ('Newroz' - March 2th). A Kurdish refugee will organise a film and Kurdish Vegan Food (he's a very good cook!)
