Charshanbe Suri

Chaharshanbe Suri
Charshanbe Suri in New York City, March 2016
Observed by	Iran  Azerbaijan  Afghanistan  Iraqi Kurdistan  Tajikistan  Turkey
Type	National, ethnic, cultural, historical, international
Celebrations	Jumping over fire, fireworks
Date	The last Wednesday eve before the vernal equinox
Frequency	Annual
Related to	Nowruz, Sizdah Be-dar

Chaharshanbe Suri (Persian: چهارشنبه‌سوری‎‎ Čahār-šanba(-e)-sūrī, usually pronounced Čāršanba-sūrī;Azerbaijani: Çərşənbə Bayramı; Kurdish: Çarşema Sor‎), also called the Festival of Fire, is an Iranian festival celebrated on the eve of the last Wednesday before Nowruz (the Iranian New Year).

The name of the festival consists of the words Chaharshanbe, the Persian for Wednesday, and sur, which is a variant of sorkh (سرخ – sorx; "red") referring either to the fire itself or to the ruddiness. It is commonly translated as Wednesday Light or the Red Wednesday. The colour red symbolizes good health and ripeness in Persian tradition.

Variant local names of the festival include:

Charshanbe Suri is a prelude to Nowruz (the Iranian New Year), and is celebrated with firework displays and the jumping over of fires.Mixed nuts and berries are also served during the celebration.

The celebration usually starts in the evening, with people making bonfires and jumping over them (purificatory practices found also in the Celtic festival of Beltane).

The traditional poetic quote zardi ye man az to, sorkhi ye to az man is also sung, which literally means "my yellow is yours, your red is mine." This means you want the fire to take your pallor, sickness, and problems and replace them with warmth and energy. It is a purification rite, which is traditionally regarded necessary before the arrival of spring at the vernal equinox.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last monarch of Iran, jumping over fire

Charshanbe Suri in Vancouver,
March 2008