Commentary: Please join us for Persian new year in Orange County

The world culture is so precious, so profound a gift bestowed upon us by our ancestors to keep, cherish and pass along to the next generation.

Perhaps one can compare the world culture to a beautiful garden of flowers, each with its own beauty, scent and touch. One of these precious cultures is Persian, stretching back about 5,500 years.

One attribute of Persian culture is joyful festivals tied to the cycles of nature. The Persian ancestors in ancient times were smart and intelligent to link their culture to Mother Nature and her ageless, eternal and refreshing beauty.

For about 350 million Parsi-speaking people on seven continents, the Persian new year, Nowruz, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2016, is one of those joyful festivals; it lasts 13 days and is the cultural’s biggest annual event.

The all-inclusive message of Nowruz is simple: joy, peace, love, happiness and prosperity for all mankind, welcoming the rejuvenation of our precious nature and the rebirth of Mother Earth, our common home.

In many countries, wherever there is a group of Iranians and/or Parsi-speaking people, even just a few families, Nowruz is celebrated with millennia-old traditions in their houses.

One of these houses is the White House, where for the last 30 years, in different administrations, the precious and ageless Nowruz is celebrated with U.S. presidents joining several other heads of state sending messages of peace and prosperity.

In the U.S., the two largest Nowruz festivals are held in New York and California. Farhang Foundation and Iranian-American Community Group of Orange County are among the two largest non-profit organizations celebrating Nowruz in daylong festivals for the last several years.

This year, just like previous ones, the IAC-OC Nowruz will be at Colonel Bill Barber Marine Corps Memorial Park, 4 Civic Center Plaza, in Irvine at 1 p.m. March 25.

I hope to see you all at this all inclusive and free-to-the-public event. May Nowruz bring you, your family and your loved ones the best in the Persian new year.

Businessman K.E. MEHRFAR lives in Newport Beach.