National Festivals

There are a number of annual cultural and national festivals which take place in Iran.
Chaharshanbe Suri or the festival of fire is an amazing ceremony which is held on the eve of the
last Wednesday of Iranian year together with other symbolic rituals such as banging the spoon
on the bowl (Qashogh Zani).
Bushes and firewood are piled in the streets. People jump over fire and sing. It also involves
firecrackers, music and dancing in the streets.
Chaharshanbe Suri is the symbol of good health, cultivation, light, and purity to the Iranian. I
love this festival because I always find it a very delightful and enjoyable celebration.

Glossary:
❖ A number of → several, many, various
❖ Annual (adj) → yearly (adj)
❖ Cultural (adj) → culture (n) / culturally (adv)
❖ To Take Place (v) → To happen (v)
❖ Amazing (adj) → wonderful (adj) / very good, specially in an unexpected way /
amazingly (adv)
❖ Ceremony (n) → an important social or religious event
❖ To hold (v) → To have a meeting, party, election etc in a particular place or at a
particular time / is held (passive)
❖ Eve → the night or day before an important day
Christmas Eve / New Year’s Eve
❖ Symbolic (adj) → representing a particular idea or quality / symbol (n)
❖ Ritual (n) → a ceremony that is always performed in the same way, in order to mark an
important religious or social occasion
❖ To bang (v) → To hit something hard, making a loud noise
❖ Bush (n) → shrub (n)
❖ Firewood (n) → wood that has been cut or collected in order to be burned in a fire
❖ To pile (v) → To stack (v)
❖ To involve (v) → To have or include (something) as a necessary or integral part or result
❖ Firecracker → a small firework that explodes loudly
❖ Health (n) → healthy (adj) # unhealthy (adj)
❖ Cultivation (n) → farming/ growing /planting
❖ Purity (n) → # impurity (n) /pure (adj) # impure (adj) / To purify (v)
❖ Delightful (adj) → very pleasant / delightfully (adv)
❖ Enjoyable (adj) → enjoyment (n) / To enjoy (v)