There are Newroz celebrations across Kurdistan, but none like Amed’s. From dawn on 21 March the roads into the city fill with buses, and by midday the Newroz field outside the old walls holds a crowd that regularly passes a million people, the largest annual Kurdish gathering anywhere.
What happens
The day is built around fire. Bonfires are lit to mark the story of Kawa the blacksmith, who, in the legend, overthrew the tyrant Zuhak and lit fires on the mountains to announce freedom. Young men jump the flames; families picnic; and everywhere there is the govend, the line dance where hundreds of people link fingers and move together to the beat of the def and zirne. Dress is part of the message: women in the layered, sequinned kras û fistan in every colour, men in the şal û şapik with a wide sash.
Beyond the field
Amed’s old city, Sur, is worth days on its own. The black basalt walls are the second longest in the world after the Great Wall of China, and the Hevsel Gardens beneath them have been farmed for eight thousand years; together they are a UNESCO World Heritage site. Look for the Ulu Camii, one of the oldest mosques in Anatolia, the Armenian church of Surp Giragos, and the tea gardens along the Tigris at Ongözlü bridge.
Practical notes
Go with local friends if you can, stay in the old city, and plan for a full day. If you want to see the dengbêj tradition, the Dengbêj House in Sur hosts singers most afternoons. And if you can’t be there, we’ll be playing Newroz music all day on Kurdistan.fm, press play.