City of Winds gets ready for spring fairs

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

The City of Winds gets ready to celebrate the Novruz holiday.

Spring fairs are planned to be held on the occasion of the spring festival in Baku.

One of them will take place on Nizami Street. Preparatory work is being completed on Fountain Square.

The fair will feature stands that showcase various souvenirs, gifts and much more. 

Azerbaijan celebrates one of the most ancient and beloved spring holidays on March 20-21. 

Before the actual holiday, people mark four pre-holiday Tuesdays, each of which is dedicated to the awakening of one of the natural elements called Su Chershenbesi (Water Tuesday), Od Chershenbesi (Fire Tuesday) Hava Chershenbesi (Wind Tuesday) and Torpaq Chershenbesi (Earth or Last Tuesday).

People do house cleaning, plant trees, paint eggs, make national pastries such as shekerbura, pakhlava, shorgoghal and a great variety of national cuisine. Children jump over bonfires and run through the streets and knock on doors to ask for treats.

The holiday was given the status of an official holiday in Azerbaijan by a presidential decree dated 13 March 1990. In 2009, Novruz was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and since then, March 21 was declared the International Day of Novruz.