In an uncommon conjunction, this year’s Eid-al-Fitr holiday that ends the Muslim month of fasting (Ramadan) and the Persian holiday of Nowruz both begin on March 20.* Twelve days later, the week-long Jewish celebration of Passover begins on April 1.
Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the inception of a new year in the Zoroastrian calendar. It is irrefutably the most important Persian holiday, celebrated in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and throughout much of Central Asia.
This year it is impossible to mention the historic festival without acknowledging the tragedies that have transpired in recent weeks and months. Even before the U.S.-Israel launch of war on Iran on Feb. 28, many Persian-diaspora communities had canceled their Nowruz celebrations in the light of violent government suppression of protests in Iran.
Read more: Persian New Year in a Year of Unrest