Persian Festival in O.C. Canceled

It was supposed to be a celebration of good over evil, knowledge over ignorance. But after last week’s terrorist attacks, organizers of the Mehregan Persian festival in Orange County have decided to cancel the symbolic event to mourn with the rest of the nation.

As many as 25,000 Iranian Americans from across the country were expected to attend the festival, scheduled Sept. 29 and 30 at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, said Mariam Khosravani, a festival coordinator.

By canceling the festival, sponsors say they will lose about $30,000 in deposits on equipment rentals, entertainment costs and rental of space at the fairgrounds. Decorations, months in the making, will be put in storage and arrangements with area restaurants to provide food will be canceled.

“Our hearts are broken just like anyone else living in this country,” said Khosravani, a member of the Network of Iranian-American Professionals of Orange County, one of several sponsors of the event. “This is not the time to celebrate. The only celebration we want to have is the celebration of unity with fellow Americans.”

The two-day autumn festival, which in previous years has been held at Lakeside Park in Irvine, is as widely celebrated in Iran as Thanksgiving is in the United States, Khosravani said. It’s a celebration of peace, love and nature that dates back thousands of years. Dance troupes dressed in colorful native costumes, folk musicians and exotic foods have highlighted past festivals.

The annual celebration came to Orange County in 1994, and attendance has grown rapidly. It is believed to be the largest Mehregan festival outside Iran, Khosravani said. Canceling the event wasn’t easy, sponsors said.

“But we wanted to send a message to the whole world that Iranian Americans in the United States stand united with their fellow Americans,” Khosravani said.

So, dozens of boxes filled with traditional Iranian trinkets and clothing intended for display at the festival will be stored until next year, along with replicas of historic landmarks in Iran that volunteers spent months building.

“We have hundreds of decorations, small and large,” Khosravani said.

“We have items for children, arts and crafts, and traditional clothes. We’ve been asking people to go into small villages in Iran and send us the traditional clothing from those villages.”