Nowrūz (Persian: نوروز /noʊruz/ ↔ [noʊɾuːz]; Kurdish: Newroz; with various local pronunciations and spellings, meaning 'New Day') is the traditional Iranian new year holiday celebrated by Iranian and many other peoples in West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Northwestern China, the Caucasus, the Crimea, and in Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia.

Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the Iranian year. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox (the start of spring in the northern hemisphere), which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. As well as being a Zoroastrian holiday, it is also a holy day for adherents of the Bahá'í Faith.^[1] In Iran it is also referred to as an Eid festival, although it is not an Islamic feast. Alawites^[2] and Nizari Ismaili Muslims^[3] also celebrate Nowruz.

The term Nowruz first appeared in Persian records in the second century AD, but it was also an important day during the time of the Achaemenids (c. 648-330 BC), where kings from different nations under the Persian empire used to bring gifts to the emperor (Shahanshah) of Persia on Nowruz