What is the name of the 13th day after Nowruz, celebrated with outdoor picnics?

The 13th day after Nowruz, celebrated with outdoor picnics, is called Sizdah Bedar. Also known as Nature Day, it brings families and friends outdoors to spend the final day of the Nowruz holiday period in parks, countryside, gardens, and other natural settings.

The name is commonly written Sizdah Bedar or Sizdeh Bedar. Sizdah means “thirteen,” while the phrase is often explained as referring to going outdoors or toward the plains on the thirteenth day. The celebration falls on Farvardin 13, the thirteenth day of the first month of the Iranian calendar.

Picnics, music, games, shared food, and time in nature are central customs. People may also knot blades of the Haft-sin greenery while making wishes, particularly wishes connected with marriage, before returning or discarding the sprouts. In Iran, the day traditionally marks the end of the Nowruz holidays.

Sizdah Bedar is sometimes mistakenly treated as a separate New Year unrelated to Nowruz, but it is one of Nowruz’s closing observances. It is also distinct from Chaharshanbe Suri, the fire festival held before Nowruz begins.