A Special Afghan New Year

Afghan New Year’s celebrations, banned under the Taliban, are back.

Observed on the first day of spring, March 20 this year, the holiday greets the new season with singing, dancing and aromatic traditional foods. This year it also ushers in a new day.

“It’s a celebration of Afghanistan’s liberation from the Taliban,” said Laila Possani, one of the organizers of a spirited early celebration Friday at Huntington Beach’s Old World Banquet Hall.

“It’s a big deal this year, and not just because of New Year’s,” said Possani, manager of Radio Afghanistan in Encino. The station, which broadcasts 24 hours a day in the Afghan languages of Dari and Pashto, sponsored Friday’s event, the first in a series of local observances.

“We are happy to celebrate again,” she said of the event, which drew several hundred Afghan expatriates from across Southern California.

“We believe that culture makes your identity. No matter how long we’ve been [in the United States], we don’t want to lose that culture.”

When the Taliban came to power in 1998, the holiday was banned because its roots were not religious, and predated Islam, Possani said. Afghans living in Southern California “were very disappointed,” she said. “We stopped having big celebrations here because we were so sad about what was going on in Afghanistan.”

Historically, the holiday’s themes have been hope and rebirth. “It’s the first day of spring,” Possani said, “when farmers parade with their animals and plant new trees.”

Lorraine Sakata, a professor of ethnomusicology at UCLA and author of a book on Afghanistan, said she once spent the spring holiday in the western part of Afghanistan before the Taliban regime.

“It was a time for celebration and picnics,” she said. “They would bring special foods, set up swings in the parks for the kids and schedule special programs of music and dance. It was a wonderful time.”

Friday’s gathering had an air of solemnity. Many celebrants were dressed semi-formally--women in cocktail dresses, men in dark suits with ties.

“This is very historical for us,” said Wali Mojadidi, 44, of Lake Forest. “Now we are celebrating in the country and out of the country. Hopefully, we can all go over and celebrate there, maybe next year.”