Iran Edition
World Safe Crossing Day leads today's complete edition for Iran.
Daily Edition
Official observances, world days, local context, and everyday celebrations for people who need something worth reading, sharing, or talking about today.
A day for roads, crosswalks, signals, ferry landings, station platforms, and the care people owe one another in motion.
A Zoroastrian fire festival celebrating the discovery of fire, held 50 days before Nowruz. In Yazd and Kerman, where the Zoroastrian community still lives, bonfires are lit and prayers are said in the ancient language of Avestan. The fire represents the divine light of Ahura Mazda, and the celebration predates Islam by a thousand years. The Zoroastrians keep the fire burning.
The Zoroastrian fire festival is celebrated in Yazd with a massive bonfire, traditional music, and the recitation of prayers in Avestan. The Zoroastrian community of Yazd is one of the oldest continuously living religious communities in the world, and their fire temple has been burning for over 1,500 years. The fire is not symbolic. It is literal, and it is ancient.
