Spring Festival - Novruz Bayram in Baku
Novruz (from Persian - “new day”) is a New Year's holiday according to the astronomical solar calendar among the Iranian and Turkic peoples. Nowruz is a national tradition that is not directly related to Islamic customs.
It is celebrated on March 19-21, depending on the year. This year it was celebrated on January 20, although in fact there were 9 days off in Azerbaijan from March 18 to March 26. as the official start of the new year according to the astronomical solar calendar in Iran and Afghanistan. As a public holiday Novruz is celebrated on March 21 in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Albania, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Turkey, in some regions of Russia, such as Dagestan, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan and other national regions. in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, Iraqi Kurdistan, some regions of India.
Traditionally, before the holiday, they visit the graves of their ancestors, prepare a festive dinner, and these days they go to visit and walk.
So I decided how to walk around the city of Baku every year. Moreover, the weather that day was surprisingly warm, a real spring.
Having reached the Sahil station by metro, I headed towards Primorsky Boulevard, despite the light breeze by Baku standards, the weather was warm. There were not so many people on the boulevard, the main events were held in Icheri Sheher and near Gosh Gapa.
After walking along the boulevard, I go through the underpass near the puppet theater to the Maiden Tower (Gyz Galasy). There are already a lot of people here, mostly tourists from Iran (70%) from Arab countries (15%), the rest are tourists from Europe, Ukraine and Russia. Souvenirs are sold, everyone is photographed. Having walked along the narrow streets of Icheri Sheher, we came to the square near Gosha Gala, where there were stalls with representatives of all countries where Novruz is celebrated. In past years, there was a concert there, and they were selling kebabs, which were cooked there. But this year, for some reason, this tradition was violated, only in 2 places they cooked barbecue and there were long queues. I didn’t have the patience to stand in this line, so I had to make do with KFC, where there was also no free space, but they took it with them and sat on a bench next door overlooking Gosha Gala where the concert was taking place. Poorly organized street food this year or gave the opportunity to restaurants to earn.
Well, we decided to go to the “Lviv Chocolate Craftswoman”, a well-known chain of cafes in Ukraine in Baku, which is also represented, we wanted to compare. The menu, of course, was different from the Kiev one, there were no Lviv cookies, we took marshmallows in chocolate for 1.2 man / piece, tea with thyme for 3.5 man, strawberry dessert - 6 man (which I did not like, too sugary). Although the interior was brought as close as possible to Ukrainian, the room is small. Prices in general are not cheaper, but much more expensive than in Kiev. Although the chocolate hare was 10 mana. I don’t remember how much it cost in Kyiv, but I remember I bought 2 pieces, I definitely wouldn’t buy at that price. There are a lot of people, mostly couples and students of Baku universities.
On the way, I went to a couple of stores where there were discounts, although I didn’t notice real discounts in the center, I went shopping in the Ganjlik Mall. In which performances of artists also took place, but I was more interested in the Turkish Defacto, where my walk around festive Baku ended with shopping.
Other photos can be viewed in the Album http://my. turpravda. ua/betonb30/gallery/204152/