In Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Dene, Inuit, French-Canadian, and Chinese participants will be among those attending a celebration this weekend, welcoming the Baha’i New Year with music, artistic presentations, dinner and dancing.
In Calgary, Alberta, there will be readings from the Baha’i sacred writings about the significance of what is known as Naw Ruz, literally “New Day”. The readings will be followed by artistic and musical performances from community members, including a skit by junior youth and a performance by flamenco dancers.
This Sunday, March 21, celebrations to mark the Baha’i New Year will take different forms throughout Canada and around the world. They will typically include programs of spiritual upliftment, music, dancing and feasting. The Baha’i New Year comes at the end of the annual 19-day Fast (March 2-20) during which Baha’is abstain from food and drink between sunrise and sunset as a period of spiritual recuperation, to draw closer to God, making adjustments in one’s inner life, and refresh and invigorate one’s spiritual forces.
This year, Baha’is welcome the year 167 of the Baha’i Era, a cycle which began in 1844. The Baha’i calendar consists of 19 months of 19 days each (361 days), with four or five additional “Intercalary Days” which adjust the calendar to the solar year.