Thirteenth Outside, picnic day of Spring

Sizdah Be-dar (Sizdeh Bedar; SeezDeh BeDar; Sizdah Bedar; Sīzdah-be-dar; Sēzdah-ba-dar), Dodging the 13th day of New Year, Iran
Also called Thirteenth Outside

The 13th day of the traditional Iranian New Year festival of Norouz (Vernal Equinox) is called Sizdeh Bedar. People go out into Nature in groups and spend all day outdoors and enjoy family picnics. It's a day of festivity in Nature, where children play and music and dancing are abundant. On this day, people throw their sabze (green sprouts that they grew as one of the '7-seen' items) away outdoors as a symbolic act of making Nature greener.

Unmarried girls, hoping to find a husband, tie a knot with blades of grass and make a wish for a good husband before the next Sizdah Be-dar. This knotting of grass represents the bonds between of a man and a woman. Girls sing this song while knotting:

Sizdah Be-dar sal-e deegar khooneh shoohar, bacheh baghal!
(Next Sizdah Be-dar, in my husband's home, holding a baby!)

Categories: iran, folklore, calendar-customs