More News

As winter turned to spring Sunday evening, local Iranian Americans celebrated the start of their new year – the Iranian calendar year of 1390.

The celebration started March 15 near the Potomac River, where more than 500 people gathered to jump over fire in an ancient purification celebration called Chaharshanbe Sori, or "Wednesday feast" in Farsi.

The celebration always falls on the evening before the last Wednesday in the Iranian calendar, said Ferrah Pourahmadi, an event volunteer.

After a picnic supper, gatherers jumped over small fires to purify themselves before the new year.

"I hope your brightness goes to me and my darkness goes to you. Purify me," is a rough translation of what people say in Farsi as they cross over the fire, Pourahmadi said.

The event at Bretton Woods Recreation Center was hosted by the Iramerican Civic Society of Washington, a nonprofit organization based in McLean, Va., that hosts charitable, cultural and educational events throughout the metropolitan area.

The organization was founded in 1994 and raised $3,475 last year, according to IRS filings.

After Chaharshanbe Sori, Pourahmadi turned her attention to preparations for the new year celebration at her family's North Potomac home, she said.

Many Iranians stay home for the evening, gathered around a spread of fresh flowers, candles and items that represent the seven elements of life, she said. All the items start with the letter "s," such as sir, or garlic, to represent good health.

The Iranian New Year — better known as Nowruz, or "new day" — is generally celebrated between March 20 and March 22, depending on the day of the spring equinox. This year, Nowruz began at 7:21:04 p.m. EST Sunday, the exact moment of the equinox.

"At that exact moment, all over the world, Iranians ... celebrate," Pourahmadi said last week. "It could be morning somewhere, nighttime somewhere, the middle of the night somewhere, and everyone will be celebrating."

The Nowruz closes with Sizdah Bedar. The event, which translates to "getting rid of 13" and falls on the 13th day of the new year, celebrates the conclusion of Nowruz and the beginning of spring with the tossing of "sabzei," or sprouts, into a river as a sign of good luck.

The local Iranian-American community celebrates Sizdah Bedar in early April with a picnic celebration at Black Hill Park in Boyds. Past celebrations have drawn upward of 6,000 people.

Iranian Americans in the region

About 70,000 Iranian Americans live in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region, according to estimates from the National Iranian American Council.

A 2003 analysis of Census data by the organization showed that Iranian Americans made up 0.224 percent of the Maryland's total population, ranking the state second behind California in terms of population density.

Third and fourth on the list are Virginia and the District of Columbia, with 0.211 percent and 0.13 percent, respectively.

Most of the Iranian-American population in Maryland and Virginia live in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, according to the report.

Iranian Americans are undercounted in the U.S. Census, the council says. The 2000 Census counted 338,000 Americans of Iranian descent, but the actual population is now believed to be 1 million, said Nobar Elmi, director of community outreach at the council.

In 2010, NIAC and other organizations launched a public education campaign encouraging Iranian Americans to take the time to write "Iranian" or "Iranian American" in the "some other race" category of census forms.

Detailed results on the number of people who listed another race under "some other race" in the 2010 census are not yet available.

dgaines@gazette.net