Party Like It’s 1394: Persian New Year celebrated at Big Corona
Hundreds of visitors celebrated Nowruz on Tuesday at Big Corona, where the Persian New Year celebration means family picnics, music and jumping over bonfires.
“Everyone has a smile on their face,” said Newport Beach park patrol Officer DJ Ferris. “The bottom line is it’s family night.”
Maria Delvarani and her husband, Dario Soheili, of Anaheim Hills posed for photos after they jumped over a fire, part of a Persian New Year tradition.
“Usually, you have seven fires,” Soheili said. “One is not enough.”
But even with one fire, spending time together at Big Corona, officially known as Corona del Mar State Beach, is becoming a tradition for the couple and their two children.
“It’s really important to us,” Delvarani said. “We aren’t with (extended) family, but we’re here together.”
Jumping over the fire is a cleansing tradition, and participants typically say, in Farsi, “My yellowness is yours, your redness is mine.” This loosely means the fire should take your pallor and sickness.
“Most of my friends are actually Persian,” said Diva Soheili, 12. “Others are always asking about it. They say it looks kind of cool, but don’t you burn your leg off?”
Parents gently swung babies above the flames, and grandparents also participated. At one ring, a group of young adults took turns jumping.
“You’re cheating!” one man told a woman, who laughed and tried again.
Families carted big pots of ash, a traditional noodle soup, along with other food, flags and radios. Persian music filled the air as sparks flew and the sun set.
Big Corona typically draws thousands of visitors around Persian New Year. On Tuesday, crowds started filling the beach by 5 p.m., and by 7 p.m., all 27 rings were burning.
The city’s ever-changing rules on fire rings fuel didn’t faze Tuesday’s gathering. Three years ago, the Newport Beach City Council indicated its desire to remove all fire rings from city beaches. Last year, officials delayed implementing a charcoal-only rule until after Persian New Year, and this year, visitors seemed content with a mixture of wood and charcoal-only rings.
“Some people like the big wood fires, and some people like charcoal,” Ferris said.
This year’s holiday marks the start of Persian year 1394. The Nowruz holiday dates back thousands of years, and its traditional celebrations are tied to the prophet Zoroaster and the spring equinox. The holiday has been celebrated at Big Corona for more than two decades, although the traditional fires do not need to be at the beach. Many participants said they have jumped over matches in a metal dish in their childhood kitchens, or over a small fire in an aluminum dish set on a driveway.
Newport Beach Police Department’s two Farsi-speaking officers were on the sand as usual, and parking lot employees greeted visitors with “Happy New Year” before explaining the new parking system, which has beach visitors pay an hourly rate at kiosks.