Vancouver is a vibrant multicultural city, that’s easy to see. Live in Richmond? Even if you’re not from Hong Kong, you’re definitely down with Chinese New Year. If you live in Surrey you know all about Diwali, regardless of your ethnicity.

This week everyone’s Irish, there isnt a “real” Irish district of Vancouver, so everyone’s down with St Patrick’s Day. Our family is Persian this week, because we live in North Vancouver and this week is Persian New Year.

Jen, Z and I went down to Yaas Bazaar on Lonsdale to pick up some fab kebabs and rice for dinner last night. Just to make it all right for the season, I served up a Guinness on the side. Now that’s multicultural!

Norooz is the Persian New Year, and it happens when the vernal equinox happens in Iran. This year that’s 9:18a on March 20 in Tehran, which means the new year actually happens at 10:18p on Wednesday here in North Vancouver.

There’s a pretty cool collection of customs associated with the new year, most associated with the same rebirth we see with the season. As we switch from winter to spring and the buds start blooming, and the life cycle starts again seems like a perfect time to celebrate the new year.

Yesterday there was a big festival at Mahon Park in North Vancouver, but if you missed that, you still have a chance to check out some great celebrations of the season. Tomorrow night, you need to take a walk down to Ambleside Park for the 2008 Red Wednesday Bonfire Festival, better known as Chahar Shanbeh Soori.

It happens on the last Tuesday evening of the year. Every family gathers several piles of wood or brush in the streets or parks to be lit shortly after the sunset. Then all the family members line up and take turns jumping over the burning fire and singing “sorkheeyeh toe az man, Zardeeyeh man az toe” (I give my paleness to the fire and take fire red healthy color.) Yellow or paleness symbolizes the sickness and pain and red symbolizes heath.

The symbolism doesn’t end there. When we were at Yaas, the place was packed. As you walk down Lonsdale you see racks and racks of wheat grass outside the shop. Inside, everyone was crowded around a huge fishtank filled with goldfish. The corner with the bakery was squeezed tight with pistachio treats. The smells and smiles of the season filled the entire place.

Just as we rush to get a turkey with trimmings for Thanksgiving or Christmas, the Persians have a similar hustle for a very specific shopping list. They need 7 things on their table as they celebrate Haft Seen, each with a separate and important symbolism.

The Haft Seen is a spread with seven items which each symbolizes a wish or theme. All seven items in this ceremonial table starts with the Persian letter seen or S in English.

Get ready to go on a scavenger hunt, here’s what you need:

1. Sabzeh (grown wheat or lentil) for rebirth

2. Samanu (flour and sugar) for sweetness of life
3. Sekeh (coin ) for prosperity and wealth
4. Senjed ( dried fruit of Lotus tree) for love
5. Seer (garlic) for health
6. Somaq ( sumac berries) for warmth
7. Serkeh ( vinegar) for patience

There are some other random things you can toss on your table, such as painted eggs, which represent fertility, a mirror that represents image and reflection of life, and a goldfish in a bowl that represents life.

So while you’re raising a pint of green beer today, come up to North Van and grab some fresh green grass and a goldfish.

Aidee Shoma Mobarak!

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This entry was posted on Monday, March 17th, 2008 at 6:15 am and is filed under food, vancouver.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.