Sizdah Be-dar

Sizdah Bedar
Iranians in the Netherlands celebrating Sizdah Be-dar, April 2011
Observed by	Iran
Celebrations	Picnicking outdoors
Date	April 1 or 2
Frequency	annual
Related to	Nowruz, Charshanbe Suri

Sizdah Bedar (Persian: سیزده‌بدر‎‎ – Sizdebedar), also known as Nature's Day (روز طبیعت – Ruz e Tabi'at), is an Iranian festival held annually on the thirteenth day of Farvardin (the first month of the Iranian calendar), during which people spend time picnicking outdoors. It marks the end of the Nowruz holidays in Iran.

Sizdah Be-dar is celebrated on the thirteenth day of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year. It is celebrated by leaving houses to join nature, and spending the day outdoors.

In Iranian Azerbaijan, it is called Sinzə Günü which means the "thirteenth day."

A ritual performed at the end of the picnic is to throw away the greenery (سبزه – Sabze) collected for Haft-Seen, the customary setting of Nowruz in Iran. Touching someone else's greenery on this day or bringing it back home is considered a bad omen.

It is also customary for young single people, especially young girls, to tie the leaves of the greenery before discarding it, expressing a wish to find a partner.

Chahardah Be-dar (Persian: Čahārda' be Dar – چهارده به در‎‎) is the fourteenth day of Nowruz, which is celebrated only in Lorestan Province. Lurs stay home on the thirteenth day of Nowruz, referred to as the Strange Thirteen (سیزده غریب – Sizdah e Qarib) by them. Instead, they picnic outdoors a day after Sizdah Be-dar.